China Moves to Tighten Air-Quality Standards as Beijing Reports Best-Ever Skies
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A view of Beijing’s CBD on Aug. 22, 2025. The city’s average annual PM2.5 concentration fell below 30 micrograms per cubic meter for the first time in 2025, reaching 27 micrograms. Under current standards, Beijing has met the requirement for five consecutive years since first achieving compliance in 2021. Photo: VCG
China is raising the bar on air pollution, proposing tighter national standards just as the capital city reported its cleanest year since monitoring began.
The Beijing municipal government on Sunday announced that the average annual concentration of PM2.5 fell to 27 micrograms per cubic meter in 2025. It marked the first time the figure has dropped below 30. Under current standards, the capital has maintained compliance for five consecutive years since achieving the target in 2021.
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- China proposed new air quality standards, reducing the annual PM2.5 limit from 35 to 25 micrograms/m³, effective fully in 2031, with an interim limit of 30 micrograms/m³ for 2026–2030.
- In 2025, Beijing’s PM2.5 average reached a record low of 27 micrograms/m³; 74% of Chinese cities met the previous standard in 2024.
- Despite improvements, China’s new target remains higher than the WHO guideline (5 micrograms/m³) and US/EU limits (9–10 micrograms/m³).
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What Happened When
- 2012：
- Current national air quality standards were established in China.
- 2013：
- The 2012 air quality standards were implemented; only three of 74 monitored key cities met the requirements, with Beijing’s average PM2.5 concentration at 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter.
- January 2013：
- Beijing’s PM2.5 concentration reached 160 micrograms per cubic meter.
- 2021：
- Beijing met the annual PM2.5 target under the current standard for the first time and has maintained compliance for five consecutive years since.
- 2024：
- The U.S. and European Union tightened their annual average PM2.5 limits to 9 and 10 micrograms respectively.
- January 2024：
- Peking University’s environmental health team released a report suggesting China should hit 25 micrograms by 2025 and 15 by 2035.
- By the end of 2024：
- 252 cities (about 74% nationwide) had met annual PM2.5 targets under the current standard.
- February 2025：
- Li, head of the ministry's Department of Atmospheric Environment, commented on PM2.5 as the main pollutant affecting human health.
- December 2025：
- The Ministry of Ecology and Environment released a draft of the 2025 National Air Quality Standards for public review.
- December 15, 2025：
- The draft of the new national air quality standards was opened for public comment, proposing to lower the annual PM2.5 limit to 25 micrograms per cubic meter and refine the PM10 limit.
- January 4, 2026：
- Beijing municipal government announced that the average annual concentration of PM2.5 fell to 27 micrograms per cubic meter in 2025.
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