The Beihai Park in Beijing. (File photo/China News Service)
(ECNS) — Major air pollutants in Beijing plummeted in January to reach the national standard for the first time, the city's environmental protection bureau said on Tuesday.
The density of PM2.5, atmospheric particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, was 34 micrograms per cubic meter in the first month this year, a fall of 70.7 percent from January last year.
It is the first time that Beijing has reached the country's national standard for PM2.5 concentration at 35 micrograms per cubic meter. It also marks Beijing's best air quality in a single month since monitoring started.
Beijing recorded 25 days of good air quality in January thanks to both frequent cold fronts and human efforts in fighting air pollution, the environmental protection bureau said.
Xin Lianzhong, senior engineer with the environmental monitoring center, said the air quality was even better than the record set last summer, showing "remarkable progress."
Other major pollutants in Beijing's air -- sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and PM10 -- also declined significantly at 55.6 percent, 35.4 percent and 51.1 percent respectively.
Beijing's air quality ranked 9th among the top major cities in December, edging up further to 8th last month.
