中国上半年的城市空气质量有所好转

China’s urban air quality improves in first half of year

中国上半年的城市空气质量有所好转

Beijing: Air quality in China’s largest cities continued to improve during the first six months of 2016, the country’s environment ministry said on Sunday.

中国环保部门周日表示，2016年前6个月里，中国最大城市的空气质量持续好转。

China’s largest 338 cities enjoyed more clean air days in the first half compared with the same period of 2015, the ministry said on its website. It said 76.7 percent of January-June days had clean air, an increase of four percentage points from a year earlier.

跟2015年同期相比，今年上半年中国最大的338个城市享受着空气更清洁的日子。上半年，76.7%城市的空气是清洁的，同比去年增加了4个百分点。

In the capital Beijing, levels of PM 2.5 – dangerous tiny pollutants – fell 17.9 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.

在首都北京，PM2.5污染水平比一年前下降了17.9%。

The ministry did not provide reasons for the improvement in air quality, but it follows increased measures to crack down on polluters and coal use, as well as efforts to tackle overcapacity in the heavily polluting steel sector. A slowdown in economic growth has also likely contributed.

环保部并未给出空气质量改善的原因，不过说会采取措施打击污染源和煤炭使用，以及努力解决污染严重的钢铁行业的产能过剩问题。另外，经济增速放缓可能也有所贡献。