The water quality of Baiyangdian Lake in Xiongan New Area in China's northern Hebei Province significantly improved in 2018, according to the ecology and environment bureau of the new area.

The concentration of the major pollutants phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen in the lake saw a year-on-year decrease of 35.16 percent and 45.45 percent respectively last year.

To protect the environment of Baiyangdian Lake, Xiongan New Area turned its attention to a sewage reservoir that is only 2.5 km away from the lake and posed a threat to the water quality in 2018.

A total of 126,000 tonnes of solid waste and 8,600 tonnes of suspected hazardous waste containing arsenic and lead have been disposed of.

All of the 606 sewage pits in the new area are now under control. The new area has also strengthened the supervision of 133 water-consuming enterprises and closed 915 polluting enterprises in 2018.

The garbage in rivers of the three counties in Xiongan was also cleaned up, while about 180 million cubic meters of water was supplied to the Baiyangdian Lake as a result of an ecological water supply project last year.

In April 2017, China announced the establishment of the Xiongan New Area, which is about 100 km southwest of Beijing and spans three counties in Hebei Province.

Ecological restoration in Baiyangdian Lake, the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China, has been reinforced since the new area was set up.