China's air, water quality improves in first seven months

BEIJING -- China's air and water quality continued to improve in the first seven months of 2026, as the country strengthened efforts to curb air pollution and protect water resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Thursday.

The average density of PM2.5, a key indicator measuring air pollution, dropped by 1.8 micrograms per cubic meter in the first seven months of the year compared with the same period last year, a decrease of 6.2 percent, Huang Runqiu, China's ecology and environment minister, told a news conference.

In the same period, the proportion of days with good air quality rose by 3.9 percentage points year on year.

The ministry also revealed that during this period, 86.5 percent of the surface-water sections and sites monitored by the country were graded Class I to III, indicating good quality, up 2.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

China classifies surface water quality into five grades, with Class I being the best quality.