China records best air quality in history in 2025: official

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's air quality in 2025 reached the best level since monitoring records began, Li Tianwei, an official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on Friday.

Among the three assessment indicators, the average concentration of PM2.5 in cities at or above the prefecture level was 28 micrograms per cubic meter, the proportion of days with good air quality reached 89.3 percent, and the proportion of heavily polluted days was 0.9 percent, all marking the best performance since the start of monitoring, Li told a press conference.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the nationwide PM2.5 concentration decreased by 20 percent, Li said.

Currently, 29 cities have a GDP exceeding 1 trillion yuan (about 144.45 billion U.S. dollars), with an average PM2.5 concentration of 27.8 micrograms per cubic meter, better than the national average, according to Li.

"These cities have all seen significant improvements during the 2021-2025 period, demonstrating through tangible governance achievements that economic growth and blue sky protection can advance together and achieve a win-win outcome," Li added.