MEP released the national air and surface water quality statuses in the first six months of the year to the press.

    According to Luo Yi, Director General of the Ministry’s Department of Environmental Monitoring, measured by the AQI, out of the first 74 cities to commence the enforcement of the new air quality standards, the top 10 cities (ranking from the 74th to the 65th) with relatively poor air quality in the first six months were Baoding, Xingtai, Zhengzhou, Handan, Jinan, Tangshan, Urumqi, Hengshui, Shijiazhuang, and Xi’an, whereas the top 10 cities (ranking from the 1st to the 10th) with relatively good air quality were Haikou, Huizhou, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Zhoushan, Jiangmen, Lishui, and Lhasa.

    The monitoring data indicated the readings of the main air pollutants continued to decline in the first half year, and the count of days with clean and fairly clean air went up year on year in Beijing. The percentage of clean and fairly clean days accounted for 58.8 percent, up 10.2 percentage points from the first six months last year. The PM2.5 reading registered 64 µg/m3, down 17.9 percent year on year and 37.9 percent from the 2013 level. The PM10 reading was 88 µg/m3, down 19.3 percent year on year and 31.3 percent from the 2013 level. The O3 reading posted 211 µg/m3, up 5.5 percent year on year and 6.0 percent from the 2013 level.

    The air quality of 338 cities at prefectural level or above was ameliorated, and the concentration of air particulates continued to drop in key areas. Seventy-eight out of the 338 cities said above attained air quality standard, up 6.5 percentage points year on year. The percentage of clean and fairly clean days averaged out at 76.7 percent, up 4.0 percentage points. The percentage of heavy pollution days registered 2.9 percent, down 0.5 percentage point compared with the first six months last year. The PM2.5 reading was 49 µg/m3, down 9.3 percent year on year, and that of PM10 was 90 µg/m3, down 6.3 percent year on year.

    The percentage of clean and fairly clean days averaged out at 57.4 percent among the 13 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, up 11.0 percentage points year on year. The PM2.5 and PM10 reading posted 63 µg/m3 and 114 µg/m3, down 19.2 percent and 20.3 percent respectively year on year, and 45.2 percent and 40.9 percent respectively from the 2013 level. The O3 reading was 177 µg/m3, up 7.9 percent year and year and 16.4 percent from the 2013 level.

    The percentage of clean and fairly clean days averaged out at 72.9 percent among the 25 cities in the Yangtze River delta, up 3.8 percentage points year on year. The PM2.5 and PM10 reading posted 53 µg/m3 and 87 µg/m3, down 7.0 percent and 4.4 percent respectively year on year, and 23.2 percent and 15.5 percent respectively from the 2013 level. The O3 reading registered 155 µg/m3, down 2.5 percent year and year, and up 9.9 percent from the 2013 level.

    The percentage of clean and fairly clean days averaged out at 94.7 percent among the 9 cities in the Pearl River delta, up 4.1 percentage points year on year. The PM2.5 and PM10 reading posted 30 µg/m3 and 46 µg/m3, both attaining the national Grade Ⅱ standard set for the mean annual reading, down 14.3 percent and 13.2 percent respectively year on year, and 31.8 percent and 28.1 percent respectively from the 2013 level. The O3 reading registered 124 µg/m3, up 3.3 percent year and year, and down 1.6 percent from the 2013 level.

    Also, Luo Yi said, the national surface water quality remained unchanged. All of the 1,940 sections covered by the national surface water quality monitoring network were monitored in the first six months of the year, except 33 sections due to drying-up of the rivers concerned. To be specific, 54 sections attained Grade Ⅰ national standard, accounting for 2.8 percent; 679 ones Grade Ⅱ standard, 35.6 percent; 579 ones Grade Ⅲ standard, 30.4 percent; 296 ones Grade Ⅳ standard, 15.5 percent; 98 ones Grade Ⅴ standard, 5.1 percent; and 201 ones worse than Grade Ⅴ standard, 10.5 percent. Against the water quality status of the year 2015, the percentage of the sections with clean or fairly clean water quality (Grade Ⅰ～Ⅲ) posted 68.8 percent, up 2.8 percentage points, and that of the sections which failed the Grade Ⅴ standard went up 0.8 percentage point. The main pollutants were COD, TP, and NH3-N.

    Of the monitoring sections of the ten major river basins (Yangtze River, Yellow River, Pearl River, Songhua River, Huaihe River, Haihe River, Liaohe River, rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, rivers in Northwest China, and rivers in Southwest China), 2.6 percent attained Grade Ⅰ standard, 39.2 percent Grade Ⅱ standard, 30.4 Grade Ⅲ standard, 12.1 percent Grade Ⅳ standard, 4.4 percent Grade Ⅴ standard, and 11.3 percent failed Grade Ⅴ standard. Against the water quality status of the year 2015, the percentage of the sections with clean or fairly clean water quality (Grade Ⅰ～Ⅲ) grew 3.2 percent, and that of the sections which failed the Grade Ⅴ standard went up 1.4 percentage points. The main pollutants were COD, NH3-N, and TP. Specifically, rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, rivers in Northwest and Southwest China enjoyed clean water quality, Yangtze River and Pearl River waters recorded fairly clean waters, Yellow River, Songhua River, and Huaihe River waters were mildly polluted, Liaohe River was moderately polluted, and Haihe River was highly polluted.

    Of the 112 major lakes (reservoirs) throughout the country, nine ones attained Grade Ⅰ standard, accounting for 8.0 percent; 32 ones Grade Ⅱ standard, 28.6 percent; 36 ones Grade Ⅲ standard, 32.1 percent; 19 ones Grade Ⅳ standard, 17.0 percent; 5 ones Grade Ⅴ standard, 4.5 percent; and 11 ones failed Grade Ⅴ standard, 9.8 percent. The main pollutants were TP, COD, CODMn, and fluoride. Of the 106 lakes (reservoirs) for which the TLI was monitored, 10 were in oligotrophic state, 76 in mesotrophic state, 15 in mild eutropher, and 5 (Hulun Lake, Shahu Lake, Xingyun Lake, Yilong Lake, and Qilu Lake) in moderate eutropher. Of the major lakes, the water quality of Dianchi Lake attained Grade Ⅴ standard on average, which was a notable improvement. The water quality of Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake was rated Grade Ⅳ, also an improvement year on year. Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake, and Dianchi Lake were all in mild eutropher.