Half of China’s Cities Fail to Meet Winter Air Quality Targets Despite Government Efforts

In the winter season of 2023-2024, half of the Chinese cities targeted by the government for air quality improvements failed to meet their targets. Despite the release of a winter air quality plan in December 2023, only partway through the season, only 41% of cities met their limits. The environment ministry was not immediately available for comment.

According to research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), PM2.5 levels increased by 4.7% year-on-year in the 2022-2023 winter season and only dropped by 1.6% in the 2023-2024 winter season. The State Council’s December 2023 plan aimed to reduce coal consumption in regions like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and Shanxi and Shaanxi in northern China. While reductions in cement and coal production did decrease emissions in the first quarter of 2024, increases in coal-fired power, non-ferrous metals, and petrochemicals offset some of those benefits. Industrial emissions account for about 62% of particulate emissions.

Weather changes also played a significant role in pollution improvements as atmospheric conditions such as rainfall, air temperature, pressure, and wind affect pollution levels. Even though China’s goals fall below air quality targets recommended by the World Health Organization meeting them could still prevent up to 180,000 pollution-related deaths by 20