The 2024 environmental protection report for North China's Shanxi province has been unveiled, highlighting the province's achievements in environmental protection.

The province's comprehensive air quality index was 4.31, a 3.8 percent decrease year over year and a seven-year consecutive decline. The proportion of good air quality days reached 74.2 percent, up 2.9 percentage points from the previous year.

The average concentration of PM2.5 dropped to 36 micrograms per cubic meter, down another microgram from 2023. For the first time, the average concentration of PM10 met the national second-level standard.

The province's proportion of high-quality water bodies reached 93.6 percent, surpassing the national average for two consecutive years. The water quality of the main stream of the Yellow River (Shanxi section) has maintained a Class II level for three consecutive years, while the water quality where the Fenhe River flows into the Yellow River achieved a Class III rating for the first time.

All polluted arable land in the province has been subjected to safe utilization measures, and 179 rural polluted water bodies have been newly treated across the province. In addition, the province actively participated in national carbon market trading, achieving a trading volume of 23.72 million metric tons.