90% of Chinese cities fail to meet air quality standards

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-02-28

Smog in Haikou, Hainan province. (Photo/CNS)

Ninety percent of the 161 Chinese cities monitored by authorities failed to meet national air quality standards in 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

Despite decline in coal consumption, only 9.9% of the cities met national air quality standards through 2014, NBS said.

China consumed 2.9% less coal last year compared to 2013, and use of natural gas and electricity increased 8.6% and 3.8% respectively, according to an NBS report on China's economic and social development in 2014.

Hydropower, wind power, nuclear power and natural gas accounted for 16.9% of total energy use, while coal made up 66%.

China also strengthened efforts to protect the environment last year, adding 6 million hectares of forest and improving 54,000 square kilometers of land troubled by water and soil erosion.