China's ecological and environmental quality maintained the trend of improvement in 2022, with the annual targets successfully achieved, an environment official said at a press conference held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Monday.

Last year, China's air quality was stable and the quality of surface water continued to improve, said Jiang Huohua, an official with the ministry.

The average density of PM2.5 in 339 cities across the country (including cities at and above the prefecture-level) was 29 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3), falling for seven consecutive years. In 2022, 0.9 percent of days were heavily polluted or worse, down 0.4 percentage points year on year and falling below 1 percent for the first time.

The quality of seawater under China's jurisdiction, the environmental conditions of soil, the urban acoustic environment and ecological conditions were generally stable in 2022, according to a report released by the ministry.

In the same period, the quality of inshore seawater generally improved, with the proportion of areas with relatively good quality standing at 81.9 percent, up 0.6 percentage points year on year, while 8.9 percent of areas were with poor quality, down 0.7 percentage points year on year.

Noting the arduous task of ecological and environmental protection in China, Jiang said more efforts should be made to intensify the battle against pollution and consolidate the momentum of improving environmental quality.

(With input from Xinhua; Cover image via CFP)

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