2012-2022 - China’s Decade of Efforts Leads to Huge Air Improvements
A national perspective from one province
China's Hebei province, a major steel-producing province, has faced serious pollution problems, and in 2013, pollution concentration monitoring data from 74 cities across the country showed that seven of the 10 most polluted cities were in Hebei. Tangshan City is the largest steel city in Hebei Province, accounting for about one-eighth of the country's steel production. According to satellite images, a layer of lead-gray morning fog covers the sky over the Jinxi Iron and Steel Plant ten years ago.
And by March 2021, the image shows the plant's factories visible. In the coke yard, 10 infrared monitors, 15 fog cannons, and 2,500 spray heads are stationed 24 hours a day to suppress dust as soon as dust is found to exceed the standard.
Today, the emissions of Jinxi Iron and Steel are one-tenth of what they were in 2012. Hebei Province is a "steel province" with one-third of steel production capacity during the 13th Five-Year Plan, but pm2.5 concentration has been reduced from 108 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 28.8 micrograms per cubic meter.
National improvement
While reducing emissions, the energy mix is also becoming cleaner.A decade of installed wind power photovoltaic power generation throughout the country, in northern China ten years of growth more than four times. This decade China's renewable energy and power generation steadily ranked first in the world. For every 3 degrees of electricity people use, there is one degree of clean electricity.In 2021 compared to 2015, the average number of good days in each of the country's 339 prefecture-level cities and above increased by an average of 39 days.As the air has improved, stargazing has become a leisure activity for more and more people. As of July 2022, the overall number of star hotels and famous lodges has increased by more than 10 times. Under the twinkling stars and blue skies is China's determination and unremitting efforts to win the battle against pollution.
China's tremendous results over the past 10 years are encouraging the world to mobilize and contribute to pollution reduction and healthy living.
