UN agency praises ecological protections

China has taken great strides since 2013 in environmental protection, with effective air pollution and other controls put in place, and it is working to bring its best practices to the world, the regional head of a UN development agency said.

During the past five years, China has made a powerful push from the central and local levels to improve air quality, "and the achievement in the (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) area has not gone unnoticed, as we are now experiencing many more blue skies in Beijing", said Nicholas Rosellini, the United Nations Development Program resident representative for China.

Data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection show the dramatic decline of air pollution, with the average level of PM2.5 - hazardous fine particles - in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region reduced since 2013 by 39.6 percent.