China's air quality maintained an overall positive trend in the first three quarters of this year, with multiple core indicators improving year on year, according to data released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Monday.
From January to September, the average PM2.5 concentration in 339 prefecture-level and above cities nationwide was 24.9 micrograms per cubic meter, down 3.9 percent year on year.
The average proportion of days with good air quality reached 86.6 percent, up 2.8 percentage points year on year, while the proportion of days with heavy pollution or above dropped to 0.7 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the same period last year.
In key regions, across the 38 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, an average of 68.4 percent of days had good air quality, up 0.9 percentage points.
In the Yangtze River Delta, 31 cities saw the proportion rise to 81.6 percent, up 4.7 percentage points year on year; the Fenwei Plain's 13 cities reported an average of 73.1 percent, up 4.3 percentage points, compared with the same period last year.
China's air quality continues to improve in first three quarters: ministry
