The Yangtze River sightseeing belt in Nanjing (CFP Photo)

Jiangsu Province made new progress in improving environmental protection in last year, according to a report released by the provincial government during a press conference on May 19.

The report said Jiangsu lowered the average PM 2.5 concentration below 40 micrograms per cubic meter for the first time, and five cities - Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou, Nantong and Yancheng - saw the air quality better than the Grade II standards. A survey by a third party showed 93.3% of respondents were satisfied with the province’s ecological and environment achievement.

The share of good air quality days in the province hit 81%, 9.6 percentage points higher than in 2019, and the annual average PM 2.5 concentration was 38 micrograms per cubic meter, down 11.6% year-on-year.

Among 104 surface water sections under the state assessment, 87.5% had a quality rating at Grade III, up 8.7 percentage points, and there’s no section with a rating of Grade V.

Jiangsu has built the country's first comprehensive platform for pollution prevention and control and spotted 1,027 aquatic species in the three major basins of the Yangtze River, Taihu Lake and Huai River. The vegetation coverage rate reached 77.6%. 47km of shoreline underwent renovation, and the area of green space increased by 5.73 million square meters.

Chen Shanli, deputy chief of the Atmospheric Environment Division, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, said more efforts are needed to gradually improve the air quality and lower the PM 2.5 intensity.

Efforts are still required to restore the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, a distinctive system offering food resources and habitats for aquatic organisms.