China's ecological environment improves in 2019: report

BEIJING -- China saw progress in ecological environment protection as the quality of air, surface water and oceans improved in 2019, according to a report on environmental protection.

The share of good air quality days in China's 337 cities at or above the prefecture level hit 82 percent in 2019, with 157 cities nationwide meeting the air quality standards, said the report submitted to the ongoing regular session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Meanwhile, the impact of the heavily polluted weather mitigated in 2019, with a notable decrease in the peak concentration, pollution intensity, duration and impact scope, compared with previous years, it noted.

According to the report, the share of surface water with a good quality rating at grade III or above was up 3.9 percentage points year on year, while the worst-rated water quality decreased by 3.3 percentage points over the last year.