China's air and water quality improve in first half of 2026

China's air and surface water quality continued to improve in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the ministry said that from January to June, the average concentration of PM2.5 — particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less — in 339 prefecture-level and above cities fell to 29.9 micrograms per cubic meter, down 6.6 percent year-on-year. The average PM10 concentration — particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less — dropped 7.4 percent to 50 micrograms per cubic meter.

The proportion of days with good or excellent air quality in those cities reached 82.8 percent, up 4.5 percentage points from the same period last year. Meanwhile, the share of days with heavy or severe pollution fell to 1 percent, down 0.5 percentage points.

For surface water, the ministry reported that 87.4 percent of monitored sections were rated Grade I to III, up 3 percentage points year-on-year.

China classifies surface water quality into five grades, with Grade I being the highest.

The proportion of monitored sections rated worse than Grade V fell to 0.9 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

Across the country's seven major river basins — including the Yangtze and Yellow rivers — as well as the northwestern, southwestern and Zhejiang-Fujian river systems, 88.1 percent of monitored sections achieved Grade I to III quality, up 3 percentage points year-on-year. The share of sections rated worse than Grade V fell to 0.8 percent, down 1.2 percentage points.

Among 145 key lakes and reservoirs monitored, 75.9 percent met Grade I to III standards, up 3.5 percentage points year-on-year, while the proportion rated worse than Grade V fell 0.7 percentage points to 3.4 percent.