Chinese cities report dipping air quality in August

Air quality in Chinese cities dropped in August, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).

For 337 cities monitored by the ministry, the share of average good air quality days stood at 87.1 percent last month, down 3.1 percentage points year on year, MEE data showed.

The average PM2.5 density, a key indicator of air pollution, remained flat at 20 micrograms per cubic meter, while the average density of PM10 rose 2.6 percent year on year.

Haikou, Lhasa and Harbin ranked top three on the list of 168 major cities' air quality in August while cities in the provinces of Hebei, Henan and Shanxi lagged behind.

Over the same period, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the neighboring area saw the share of average good air quality days rise 15 percentage points to 77 percent last month.

In the first eight months, the share of average good air quality days decreased 0.9 percentage points from a year ago to 81.7 percent while the average density of PM2.5 stood flat at 35 micrograms per cubic meter.

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