CHINA / SOCIETY
China to consider effects of epidemic when setting air quality goals for next autumn and winter
Published: May 15, 2020 06:25 PM

A boy watches the sunset by the Donghu Lake in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)


China saw a record air quality improvement during the COVID-19 epidemic in the first quarter, but the Chinese environment authority said on Friday that the data is irrelevant to its goals for next autumn and winter.

With the significant reduction of human activities during the epidemic, main pollutant emissions such as SO2, NOx and VOCs dropped more than 20 percent in the first quarter, and the number of days with good air quality increased 6.6 percent compared to the same period last year, Liu Bingjiang, director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at the ministry's monthly press conference on Friday.

Liu said that due to the epidemic's effect, the data should not be considered when setting air quality goals for next autumn and winter. The ministry will comprehensively consider air quality conditions in all past years to make a scientific and appropriate goal.

Meanwhile, monitoring data in April showed that an air pollution increase caused by production resumption is "not common," Liu said.

The ministry also announced that China will conduct a campaign to tackle ozone pollution this summer. In early May, ozone pollution quotas were exceeded in almost 200 cities in China, including Beijing and nearby cities.

The ministry reaffirmed its confidence in fulfilling its three-year action plan to fight air pollution. According to the plan, cities with low air quality standards should see their PM 2.5 density, a key indicator of air pollution, fall at least 18 percent from 2015 levels by 2020, while cities at prefecture level and above should see the number of good air days reach over 80 percent annually.