BEIJING, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment has warned Shaanxi, Shandong and other provinces to take actions to rein in worsening air quality in the first half of the year.
While air quality generally improved in H1 with PM2.5 density, a key indicator of air pollution, falling 2.4 percent year on year nationwide, some cities in northern China saw air quality worsen during the period, official data showed.
In east China's Shandong Province, the average density of PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide climbed by 9.4 percent and 12.5 percent year on year respectively in H1, and the number of days of heavy air pollution increased by 3.8 from a year ago.
During the same period, the average PM2.5 density rose 11.3 percent year on year in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, with six cities in the province reporting worse air quality compared with 2018.
Local authorities attributed the slipping air quality to unfavorable weather conditions, large quantities of pollutant emissions and inadequate efforts on air pollution control.
Local governments are required to pay attention to the tendency of polluting enterprises to relocate to rural-urban fringe zones, rural areas as well as the country's central and western regions.
The ministry will give written warnings to cities that fail to fulfil air quality targets or hold interviews with these cities every half year to strengthen accountability on air quality control.
