BRINGING BACK BLUE SKIES

Fresh air used to be a "luxury" for residents of smog-shrouded North China in winter.

"The top priority in tackling smog pollution and improving air quality is controlling PM2.5 pollutants," Xi said during an inspection tour in Beijing in February 2014.

In a discussion with national legislators from Southwest China's Guizhou province a month later, Xi said that air quality is crucial to the people's sense of happiness.

To bring back blue skies, China has published an action plan to rein in air pollution, and written the prevention and control of air pollution into the report of the 19th CPC National Congress.

Over the past decade, China has developed the world's largest clean coal-burning power generation base and built up the world's highest installed wind and photovoltaic power capacity. It has produced the most new energy vehicles globally for eight consecutive years.

Today, fresh air is no longer a luxury. China's PM2.5 density fell 57 percent from 2013 to 2022 and its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP declined 34.4 percent. The country's annual number of days with serious air pollution dropped sharply by 92 percent.