Air quality improves in north

Cities taking further action to reduce coal consumption in heating season

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region saw improvements in air quality in 2016, though it was at times still plagued by severe pollution.

The average concentration of PM2.5, a hazardous pollutant, has decreased by 33 percent compared to the level in 2013, with an annual reading last year of 71 micrograms per cubic meter, said Wu Jiyou, deputy head of environment monitoring department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, on Friday.