Ahead of Winter Olympics, Beijing Says It’s Complied Fully With Clean Air Standards

China’s capital fully complied with national air quality standards for the first time in 2021, Beijing’s environmental watchdog said Tuesday.

The city has spent years battling dense smog from surrounding heavy industry.

The city’s annual average concentration of PM2.5 — ultrafine particles that are hazardous to health — dropped to 33 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021, reaching the national standard (link in Chinese) of a maximum of 35 micrograms for the first time since records began in 2013, according to a statement published by the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau.