Best-ever recorded air quality in 2019

Writer: Han Ximin  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily 

The average PM 2.5 concentration in Shenzhen for the first time was reduced to 24 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) last year, meeting Phase II requirements for WHO air quality guidelines for particulate matter, it was announced at a meeting of the Shenzhen environment authority Friday.

These were the best levels since 2006 when the city started to monitor particulate matter.

The city recorded nine hazy days in 2019, the lowest number since 1989.

In 2019, the environment authorities restored 159 blackened and odorous rivers to good condition. The water quality of the Maozhou River was its best in two decades.

“This is a historic breakthrough in Shenzhen’s air quality control, and standing at this new point, the city will implement five actions in 2020 to further improve the ecological environment and governance capability as well as 24 tasks to improve air quality and ozone treatment,” Liu Chuhan, director with Shenzhen Ecological Bureau, said at the meeting.

In 2020, the water quality of the Maozhou River, Shenzhen River and other major rivers will reach the V-Category standard. Reinforcement measures will be taken to ensure the water quality of the 159 rivers, and PM2.5 concentration levels will be maintained within 25 mg/m3.