In 2015, China's capital city Beijing recorded 46 days of heavy pollution comprising of nearly 13 percent of the year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said on Tuesday.

The months of November and December particularly account for nearly half with 22 days of heavy pollution, mostly because of winter heating. The city also reported 186 days of acceptable level of air quality last year, this is 14 days greater compared to 2014.

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Beijing's yearly average density of PM 2.5 is at 80.6 micrograms per cubic meter, this is a 6 percent drop from 2014 and 10 percent from 2013. However, this is still more than twofold of China's 35 micrograms per cubic meter standard, and sevenfold higher than the annual mean of the World Health Organization.

About 13 other cities under supervision within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region also reported acceptable air quality levels for 52.4 percent of the days in 2015, a 9.6 percentage points year-on year increase.

Meanwhile, China's other two economic power houses, namely, the Yangtze River Delta region and Peal River Delta Region, both saw up-to-par air quality levels for 72.1 percent and 89.2 percent of the days in 2015, respectively.  

According to an MEP representative Luo Yi, in spite of the significant improvement, north China has to deal with serious air pollution amidst the winter heating season while the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has recorded high levels of PM 2.5. 

As the Chinese population becomes more aware of the health dangers associated with pollution, authorities are stepping up efforts to improve the air quality. The municipal government of Beijing has began swapping coal-fired broilers with natural facilities powered by gas, eliminating old vehicles that produce more pollution off the streets, and shutting down or relocating heavy-polluting companies. 

TagsBeijing, air pollution, smog, china, China PM2.5 air pollution