Zhanjiang stood out from 297 Chinese cities to be listed among the top 30 in terms of environment, according to the recently published China Integrated City Index 2017.

The book, jointly compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission's Development Planning Department and Cloud River Urban Research Institute, evaluated domestic cities across the three major indicators, including society, economy and environment.

The latest edition is packed with more content than that of the previous year, with new statistics from remote satellite sensing and big data technologies. Via a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the cities, it aims to explore the potential pathways of the nation's urbanization and development in a qualitative sense.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are the top three cities of the overall ranking, with Guangzhou and Tianjin occupying the fourth and fifth positions. Shanghai was the top ranked city from an economic prospective, while Shenzhen led the pack in terms of environmental quality.

Zhanjiang is the only city in Western Guangdong to crack into top 30 in regard to environment. The city's high ranking is no surprise as  Zhanjiang has made great headway in cracking down air, water and land pollutions over the previous year.  It also went overboard in tasks related to taking heavy-polluting vehicles off the roads and emission reduction that were set out by the province.

Zhanjiang's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded to be 3.22 last year, ranking second in Guangdong province. Meanwhile, the water quality of major rivers, lakes and reservoirs across the city was rated as fine. The qualified rate for urban drinking water remained as high as 100 percent.