World Environment Day: China holds main session for air protection

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Today is World Environment Day with the theme "Beat Air Pollution." The main session for this year's event is held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The country hosted the main session of the World Environment Day twice before – 1993 in Beijing and 2002 in Shenzhen.

Attended by officials, scholars and environmentalists from around the world, the event is calling for the awareness of air pollution and efforts to tackle it.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sends a letter to the event, stressing the harm brought by air pollution and calling on efforts to tackle air pollution from every person, company and country.

CGTN infographic by Yin Yating

According to the United Nations, over 90 percent of the world population lives with unhealthy air. Some seven million people die prematurely every year due to bad air quality.

The opening ceremony of CCICED's 2019 Annual General Meeting in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, June 3, 2019. /CGTN Photo

Another event echoing World Environment Day is the Annual General Meeting held by the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) from June 2 to 5.

Topics include global governance and ecological civilization, green urbanization and environmental quality improvement, innovation, sustainable production and consumption, and green energy, investment and trade are covered during the meeting.

China sees improvements in air quality

Air pollution has never attracted so much attention, particularly in China, where more than 60 percent of cities have a density of PM2.5 per cubic meter above 35, far beyond the strictest standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO). But changes are happening.

Since 2013, the air quality in China has gradually improved. Last year, the average density of PM2.5 per cubic meter nationwide was 71, a 27-percent drop from 2013. In key cities such as Beijing, there was a drop of 43 percent.

Despite the stepwise progress, the whole situation in China is still grim.

CGTN infographic by Yin Yating

In 2017, China announced the "Blue Sky Protection Campaign" to accelerate action in tackling air pollution, with a particular focus on key regions, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The country has seen improvement in air quality after the announcement. Among some 338 cities in China, 121 cities met the national air quality standard in 2018, accounting for 35.8 percent of the total, according to China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

CGTN infographic by Yin Yating

The average percent of attainment days on air quality was 79.3 percent in 2018, up by 1.3 percent compared with that of 2017.

In 2018, the attainment rate was 100 percent for seven cities, up by two cities; 80-100 percent for 186 cities, 16 cities more than 2017; 50-80 percent for 120 cities, 17 cities less than 2017; less than 50 percent for 25 cities, down by one city.

(Top image: The main session for this year's World Environment Day is held in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. /CGTN Photo)