Heavy smog shrouds Shijiazhuang in north China's Hebei Province, December 5, 2016. (Photo: China News Service/Zhai Yujia)
(ECNS) -- Cities in northern China dominated the pollution list in November as heating services began for the winter, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Six cities in Beijing's neighboring Hebei Province, including Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Xingtai, Tangshan, Handan and Hengshui, were among the 10 cities with the most polluted air, along with Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, and Zhengzhou in Henan Province, according to the monthly report issued by the ministry on Tuesday.
Among them, Shijiazhuang had the most polluted air in November, said the report, which reviews air quality in 74 major Chinese cities.
The ministry also named 10 cities with the best air quality in November. They were Haikou, Zhoushan, Fuzhou, Nanning, Huizhou, Lishui, Guiyang, Shenzhen, Kunming and Xiamen.
The report said that in the first 11 months of the year, the air quality in China improved slightly.
The intensity of PM2.5, or airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter and a major indicator of air quality, dropped by 8.3 percent from a year earlier. PM10 readings also fell by 7.1 percent year-on-year.
Beijing has had more pollution-free days this year than last year. The capital city's measure of PM2.5 concentration dropped by 9.5 percent on a year-on-year basis, while its PM10 readings fell by 10.4 percent year-on-year.
