Chinese cities report worse air quality in July

Chinese cities reported worse air quality on average in July compared with a year ago, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said Tuesday.

In a monthly report posted on its website, the ministry said the 74 cities under its watch reported air pollution on 26.9 percent of the days last month, up from 19.5 percent in July 2013.

In particular, Beijing and its 12 neighboring cities in the North China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region on average suffered from air pollution on 57.4 percent of the days in July, up from 51.4 percent last year.

The major pollutants in the region were PM2.5 and ozone, it said.

The ministry added that Beijing and Tianjin were among 10 cities that reported the worst air quality last month. The rest included Tangshan, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Jinan, Handan, Langfang and Hengshui.

Air quality in the Pearl River Delta region also deteriorated on a yearly basis, the ministry said, adding that the Yangtze Delta region saw some improvements in July.

China began to include PM2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, and ozone in its new air quality standard in 2013.