Beijing also reported record low levels in July of other major pollutants, such as PM10, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, at 32, 2 and 14mcg per cubic metre respectively.

01:45

Fresh sandstorm hits Beijing following its worst storm in a decade

Fresh sandstorm hits Beijing following its worst storm in a decade

“Average PM2.5 concentration dropped from 80mcg per cubic metre in 2015 to 38mcg last year,” Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told a press conference on Wednesday. “The city’s heavy pollution days have been reduced from 43 days in 2015 to 10 days last year.”

Residents of the city have noticed, too. He Haitao, 59, said the improvement was obvious and his workouts had moved from the gym to outdoors.

“I used to run outside but I abandoned it six years ago because of the pollution,” he said. “I needed to wear a mask if I wanted to run outdoors.”

He said he had not been confident that Beijing’s authorities could solve the pollution problem so quickly, so he had bought a three-year gym membership in 2017. But with the air quality improving, he did not need to renew it.

“China’s action on improving air quality is undoubtedly the brightest spot in its environmental governance,” said Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE).

Ma said the improvement was evident not only from official data but from posts by users of Blue Map, an app developed by the IPE that pools air quality data and pollution sources.

Covid-19 lockdowns give China breathing room on air quality targets

“When the app was launched in 2014, many of the users shared smog photos,” he said. “But there were more blue-sky days in recent years and many users have posted photos of clear skies and nature. We have witnessed this progress.”

The capital’s neighbouring province of Hebei also recorded its lowest concentration of PM2.5 in July, at 21mcg per cubic metre. Its air quality in the first half of this year was its best since 2013, according to Hebei’s ecology and environment department.

Environment Minister Huang attributed the improvement to national anti-pollution campaigns since 2013, including on reducing coal consumption and improving fuel and emission standards.

In 2014, China introduced an ultra-low emissions standards policy for renovating coal-fired power generators. To date, about 90 per cent of the total capacity has been renovated, with 25 million households in Beijing and neighbouring provinces switching from coal to natural gas for heating, Huang said.

Challenges remain, however. Emissions remained high in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and in central provinces, while even the record-low PM2.5 concentrations for the first half of the year had yet to meet the national standard, he said.

02:38

China launches world’s largest carbon-trading scheme as part of 2060 carbon neutrality goal

China launches world’s largest carbon-trading scheme as part of 2060 carbon neutrality goal

“The tough nuts to crack are [reforming] our industrial and energy structures,” Huang said.

Chinese environment experts said pollution in Beijing and neighbouring areas was largely caused by the presence of heavy industry and high coal consumption.

“Steel and coking in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region account for 37 and 21 per cent of the country’s total capacity respectively,” Lei Yu, an environment ministry expert, was quoted as saying this month by People’s Daily.

“We have picked the low-hanging fruit already,” said Ma, of the IPE. “The next step would be adjusting the industrial, energy and transport structures.”

A total of 2,162 power generation companies were initially involved in the scheme, accounting for about 4.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The total trading volume in the market has reached 7 million tonnes since the launch, with a total turnover of 355 million yuan (US$55 million), Huang told the press conference.

He said the market would include more heavy-emission sectors over time to boost market activity.