Beijing recorded 290 days of good air quality last year, the highest since monitoring began, according to the municipal ecology and environment bureau.Good air quality was recorded in the national capital on 79.2 percent of days in 2024, an increase of 19 days on the previous year and a significant rise of 114 days compared to 2013.The city was reeling from severe air pollution a decade ago, but has achieved continued improvements in air quality in recent years following a series of clean-up initiatives.Beyond Beijing, China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, has unswervingly followed the path of ecological priority, green and low-carbon development, strengthening all-round ecological and environmental protection, with green development becoming a prominent feature of Chinese modernization.China's determination to build an eco-civilization has expanded the global map of greenery, benefiting both China and the world.Green transitionChina is dedicated to reducing pollution and carbon emissions, and continues to push for the optimization and adjustment of industries, accelerating the clean and efficient use of energy, and sustaining the green transition in areas such as transportation and construction.
 For instance, the country fully aligns its strategies to promote green initiatives, bringing about a marked increase in the "green content" of economic development.To restore its ecological environment, Chinese President Xi Jinping, since 2016, has presided over multiple symposiums to promote the Yangtze River Economic Belt to embark on a new path of ecological priority and green development.The nine provinces and two municipalities along this economic belt have accelerated industrial transformation seeking greener paths of development.Changzhou City, in east China's Jiangsu Province, having removed all low-end chemical firms along the shore to make space for green and emerging industries, saw its new energy sector boost industrial output growth by 9 percentage points in the first seven months of 2023.The number of monitoring sites in the Yangtze River Basin achieving excellent water quality increased from 81.8 percent in 2015 to 98.5 percent in 2023.Through building a green, low-carbon and circular production system, the country promotes the construction of green factories and green parks in the industrial sector, and reduces the use of fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural production, comprehensively improving the green development of traditional industries.From 2012 to 2023, China's economy grew on average at more than 6 percent, with an annual energy consumption growth rate of 3 percent.
Its energy consumption dropped by 26.4 percent accumulatively, making China the country with the fastest decline in energy consumption, without compromising on economic expansion.Tackling pollutionChina has also demonstrated its determination to prevent and control pollution with unprecedented vigor.Making ecological and environmental problems a priority area of concern for people's livelihoods, China has launched a series of massive campaigns to keep skies blue, waters clear and lands clean, producing a science and law-based targeted approach related to pollution control and bringing a visible improvement in the quality of the environment.China has made strenuous efforts to give its people blue skies.
Since the new era, more than 95 percent of China's coal-fired power units and over 45 percent of crude steel production capacity have completed the transition to an ultra-low emission status.
China has built the world's largest clean electricity supply system and clean steel production system.In 2023, the average PM2.5 concentration in China's major cities was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, a decrease of 54 percent from 10 years ago.
The number of days with heavy pollution has decreased by 83 percent in the same period, meaning China has improved its air quality at the fastest speed of any country in the world.Meanwhile, the country has advanced its battle for clear water and taken strong measures to reduce sewage discharge and control sources of pollution, making significant progress in the protection of clean water.The proportion of surface-water bodies nationwide classified as having excellent water quality reached 89.4 percent in 2023, surpassing the target set in the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) by 4.4 percentage points.China's commitment to an ecological civilization is a holistic approach, demonstrated by its integration of environmentally friendly urban development, comprehensive nature and biodiversity protection policies, and a unified approach to sustainability, said Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies.