Wuxi records best air quality ever

Wuxi's concentration of fine air pollution particles (PM2.5) had an average of 33 micrograms per cubic meter for 2020, a decrease of 15.4 percent year-on-year, which was the city's best recorded air quality ever, local media reported on Jan 8.

Wuxi saw an 81.7 percent rate of days with good air quality last year, an increase of 9.6 percent year-on-year, according to official data.

In order to prevent and control the main air pollutants, including PM2.5 and ozone, Wuxi released 28 measures last July and added 36 measures more in August.

Due to these efforts, the number of days with excess ozone pollution decreased by 14 days year-on-year in the city last year. Wuxi has also become one of the first cities in Jiangsu province to meet China's second-level ambient air quality standards.

Shen Hong, director of the manufacturing department of Wuxi Johnson Controls Co, said that last year after hundreds of experiments, the company replaced all oil-based paints on the production line with water-based paints, which can reduce VOCs emissions by approximately 12.5 tons a year.

In November last year, Wuxi launched a three-year project to eliminate high-emission vehicles early through subsidies totaling over 500 million yuan ($77.35 million). In the last two months of 2020, 4,299 of these vehicles were eliminated successfully.

The local government said that it will continue to focus on key sources of pollution, including heavy diesel vehicles, volatile organic compounds, and dust.