On June 5, 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MOE) officially released the 2023 China Ecological Environment Condition Bulletin at the national main event of the June 5 Environment Day, objectively reflecting the national ecological environment condition and changes in 2023 with comprehensive and informative and accurate monitoring data, and demonstrating in an all-round way the national ecological environment protection progress and effectiveness in 2023.
The Communiqué shows that in 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments and regions, adhered to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, especially Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, conscientiously implemented the decision-making and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, synergistically pushed forward the high-quality development of the economy and high-level protection of the ecology and the environment, vigorously pushed forward the construction of a beautiful China, and the quality of the ecology and environment achieved a steady improvement.
National ambient air quality has maintained a long-term positive trend.The average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in 339 prefectural-level and above cities was 30 micrograms per cubic meter, which was better than the annual target by nearly 3 micrograms per cubic meter, with a cumulative decrease of 28.6% since the 13th Five-Year Plan. The proportion of good days nationwide was 85.5%, or 86.8% after deducting the days when sand and dust abnormally exceeded the standard, which was 0.6 percentage points better than the annual target. The average PM2.5 concentration in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and neighboring regions, the Fenwei Plain and other key regions for air pollution prevention and control dropped by 2.3% and 6.5% respectively year-on-year.
The environmental quality of surface water nationwide continued to improve. Excellent (Ⅰ ~ Ⅲ) water quality section proportion of 89.4%, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year, "13th Five-Year Plan" since the realization of the "eight consecutive rise", a cumulative increase of 21.6 percentage points; the proportion of poor V water quality section of 0.7%, flat year-on-year, "13th Five-Year Plan", the average concentration of PM2.5 in key areas of air pollution prevention and control. "Thirteen Five" since the cumulative decline of 7.9 percentage points. Key watershed water quality improvement is obvious, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River trunk water quality stabilized to maintain class II, the Haihe River Basin water quality from mildly polluted to improve to good. The water quality of key lakes and reservoirs and drinking water sources has maintained an improving trend, and the overall quality of groundwater nationwide has remained stable.
The quality of seawater in the national jurisdictional waters is generally stable and improving. The area of sea area with one type of water quality accounted for 97.9% of the area of sea area under jurisdiction, up 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. The water quality of near-shore waters continued to improve, with the proportion of the area with good (Class I and II) water quality at 85.0%, up 3.1 percentage points year-on-year, and a cumulative increase of 12.1 percentage points since the 13th Five-Year Plan; and the proportion of the area with poor Class IV water quality at 7.9%, down 1.0 percentage points year-on-year, and a cumulative decrease of 3.0 percentage points since the 13th Five-Year Plan. The proportion of water quality in poor category 4 was 7.9%, down 1.0 percentage point year-on-year, and down 3.4 percentage points cumulatively since the 13th Five-Year Plan.
Soil environmental risks nationwide were basically controlled, and the trend of increasing soil pollution was initially curbed. The soil environmental condition of agricultural land was generally stable, and the safe utilization rate of contaminated arable land reached more than 91%. The safe utilization rate of contaminated arable land has reached over 91 per cent, and the safe utilization of key construction sites has been effectively guaranteed.
The overall natural ecological condition of the country was stable. The Ecological Quality Index (EQI) value is 59.6, and the comprehensive evaluation of ecological quality is "Type II", with no significant change compared with 2022. Biodiversity is rich, the proportion of natural ecosystems is high, and the ecological structure is complete and functional. The area of the red line for ecological protection in the national land area accounts for more than 30% of the land area.
The quality of urban acoustic environment across the country is generally improving. The daytime and nighttime compliance rate of the acoustic environment in functional areas was 96.1% and 87.0% respectively, up 0.1 percentage point and 0.4 percentage point year-on-year, and up 3.9 percentage points and 13.0 percentage points respectively since the 13th Five-Year Plan.
The national nuclear and radiation safety situation was generally stable. The quality of the radiation environment and the radiation environment around key nuclear facilities are generally in good condition.
Source: Ministry of Ecology and Environment
