Beijing only 17th most polluted city, ministry says
Capital dropped down pollution table in March, ministry says, though activist doubts its accuracy; on average, cities had 17 days of severe smog
Beijing has a serious air pollution problem, but officially it was not even among the 10 most polluted mainland cities in the first three months of this year.
According to a study of 74 cities by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Beijing improved from ninth dirtiest city in January to 17th smoggiest last month.
Air quality in the 74 cities on more than half the days in the first quarter failed to meet national standards; on 17 days the air was rated "severely polluted" or "hazardous", the ministry said on its website yesterday.
Notably, Beijing is surrounded by seven of the 10 most polluted cities - including Shijiazhuang , Xingtai and Baoding - in neighbouring Hebei province, the third-largest coal user on the mainland.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jinan in Shandong , Xian in Shaanxi and Urumqi in Xinjiang .
The cities that recorded the best air quality were Haikou in Hainan , Lhasa in Tibet and Zhoushan in Zhejiang .