Beijing meets ‘17 air quality target under 2013 clean-up plan

Beijing met its air quality targets last year following a crackdown on polluters and a sustained period of favourable weather, the local environmental agency said in a statement. The yearly average concentrations of particulate matter with a length of 2.5 microns or less, known as PM2.5 dropped by 35.6 per cent in 2017 from 2012 to 58 micrograms per cubic metre, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said. The figures were in line with Reuters estimates made last week.