The quality of air in Chinese cities has seen vast improvement the previous year, according to results published by environmental organization Greenpeace on Jan. 22, Thursday, but city pollution still remains beyond both national and international standards.
Chinese cities are greatly affected by massive pollution, which came from coal-burning power stations and industry and vehicle emissions.
Amounts of PM2.5, very tiny airborne particles that could seep in the lungs, have dropped year on year in the 71 of 74 cities that are under supervision by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
The most polluted city, according to the report, is Xingtai located north of China's Hebei Province. The city averaged 131.4 micrograms per cubic meter in its particulates.
The city of Beijing averaged 83.2 micrograms per cubic meter, while Shanghai has 52.2.
In comparison, foreign cities like New York and Tokyo averaged respectively 11.2 and 15.8 last year, according to the most recent figures available.
WHO suggested a maximum level of exposure of 25 micrograms per cubic meter for 24 hours and 10 micrograms per annum.
China has its own standard level of 35 micrograms per cubic meter in a year.
The statistical data released by Greenpeace came from offical data by the environmental protection ministry.
The data presented that Xingtai had a 15.3 percent of improvement, while Beijing's numbers fell 7.7 percent and Shanghai 14 percent. Xi'an had the largest number of decline at 27 percent.
Despite the decline in the percentage of pollution, none of China's cities came close to the WHO recommended score even Haikou, the least polluted city in the island of Hainan, that scored 22.4 percent.
The central government has declared a war against pollution and swore that they will decrease the proportion of the country's energy consumption derived from fossil fuels.
A factor that helped reduce the pollution in parts of northern China was the restriction on car use and closure of factories, which were implemented November last year during the APEC forum in Beijing.
The efforts resulted in the term "APEC blue," describing the stunning clear skies experienced by cities during November. But critics mocked the action by saying it was only temporary.
Environmental activists addressed further standards that will aid in the reduction of pollution by lessening the use of coal and switching to renewables.
"Clean air is a basic necessity for healthy living," stated Yan Li, head of Greenpeace East Asia's climate and energy.
"It's sad if children grow up with more smog than clean air and blue skies, as depicted in Jia's film. Bringing back clean air needs to be a priority and it requires urgent action."