Beijing achieves continued progress in air and water quality in 2024

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese capital of Beijing achieved continued progress in air and water quality last year, according to a report released on Friday.

Data from the report on Beijing's ecological environment shows that in 2024, Beijing's average density of PM2.5, a key indicator of air pollution, stood at 30.5 micrograms per cubic meter, dropping by 65.9 percent compared to that of 2013. The municipality recorded 290 days of good air quality and only two days with heavy air pollution.

The municipality's water quality has also made notable progress. Among Beijing's five major water systems with a total length of rivers reaching 2,551.6 km, 87.2 percent were rated as having good water quality in 2024, up 15.9 percentage points year on year and nearly 40 percentage points compared to 2013, said the report.

According to the report, the Ecological Index (EI) of Beijing was 71.4 last year, with a year-on-year growth of 0.85 percent. This indicates that the city is seeing steady improvements in the quality of its ecological environment. From 2020 to 2024, Beijing documented 7,121 species, including rare ones such as freshwater jellyfish and the oriental stork.

"Beijing will continue to implement precise, scientific and law-based pollution control," said Liu Baoxian, deputy head of Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, also the report's publisher. He added that the city will synergistically promote environmental protection and economic growth. ■