The report shows that in 2022, the quality of the national ecological environment has maintained an improvement trend, and the environmental security situation is basically stable. However, the difficulty of continuous improvement of the ecological environment has significantly increased.

The air quality is steadily improving, and the concentration of fine particles continues to decrease. The average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in cities at or above the prefecture level nationwide is 29 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 3.3%, and for the first time, it has decreased to within 30 micrograms per cubic meter, achieving a continuous decline in the past 10 years.

The quality of surface water environment continues to improve, with the proportion of Class I-III surface water quality sections in China reaching 87.9%, an increase of 3.0 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of poor Class V water quality sections is 0.7%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percentage points.

The national soil environmental risks have been basically controlled, and the trend of soil pollution worsening has been preliminarily curbed. The overall natural ecological situation in the country is stable.

The overall quality of urban acoustic environment in China is stable. The overall situation of nuclear and radiation safety in the country is stable. The national environmental security situation is basically stable. A total of 113 sudden environmental incidents occurred throughout the year, a year-on-year decrease of 43.2%, and all incidents were properly handled.

When it comes to the completion of ecological and environmental protection goals and tasks, Huang Runqiu said that after efforts, the emissions of major pollutants in China will continue to decrease in 2022, and the goal of improving ecological and environmental quality will be successfully achieved. The proportion of days with excellent air quality in cities at or above the prefecture level nationwide is 0.9 percentage points better than the annual target, the average concentration of PM2.5 is 4.6 micrograms/cubic meter better than the annual target, and the proportion of surface water quality sections in Class I-III is 4.1 percentage points better than the annual target.

Source: Environmental Protection Association