8. Greener environment

View of the Lujiazui financial area on a clear day in Shanghai on Aug 15, 2016. [Photo/Asianewsphoto.com]

The air quality turned better. Of the 338 cities monitored, 24.9 percent reached urban air quality standards in 2016, up 3.3 percentage points from 2015. The average PM2.5 density of cities that did not reach the standards declined 8.8 percent from 2015 to 52 micrograms per cubic meter.

The marine environment improved. Some 73 percent of monitored offshore areas reached the national first and second-grade standards in seawater quality, up 4 percentage points from 2012.

The data is cited from the National Bureau of Statistics.