In August, the national air quality continued to improve, with significant decreases in the average concentrations of several major pollutants.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently released the national air quality situation for August this year, showing a significant decrease in the average concentration of major pollutants including PM2.5. In August, the average concentration of PM2.5 in 339 cities at or above the prefectural level in the country was 13.9 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 16.8%; the average concentration of PM10 was 27 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 12.9%; the average concentration of O3 was 127 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 10.6%; the average concentration of SO2 was 6 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 14.3%; the average concentration of NO2 was 12 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 7.7%; and the proportion of days with good air quality was 96.0%, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percentage points. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding "2+36" cities, the average concentration of PM2.5 was 17.7 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 9.2%; and the proportion of days with good air quality was 89.6%, a year-on-year increase of 10.9 percentage points. In the Yangtze River Delta region, the average concentration of PM2.5 in 31 cities was 14.8 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 22.9%; and the proportion of days with good air quality reached 91.5%, a year-on-year increase of 17 percentage points. In the Fenwei Plain, the average concentration of PM2.5 in 13 cities was 17.9 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 10.9%; and the proportion of days with good air quality was 86.6%, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percentage points.