China sees warmest year on record in 2024

An outdoor worker washes his face at a construction site in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 13, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The average temperature in China in 2024 was the highest since 1961, when the country began compiling complete meteorological observation records, according to the National Climate Center on Thursday.

The national average reading in 2024 stood at 10.9 degrees Celsius, 1.01 degrees Celsius above the annual average, breaking the previous record set in 2023, which was 10.71 degrees Celsius.

A total of 19 provincial-level regions logged record-high temperatures last year -- including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Shaanxi.

Average precipitation across the country reached 697.7 mm in 2024, 9 percent more than the annual average.