A serene moment in Yangquan City Park [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Yangquan city – located in North China's Shanxi province – has fully committed itself to developing as a core ecological area in the eastern part of the province. 

The city has rolled out a raft of effective measures to reduce pollutant emissions and to improve local ambient air quality.

A majestic view of Wudu Wetland Park in Yangquan [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

It has accelerated the relocation of heavily polluting enterprises from built-up areas and promoted the comprehensive ameliorative treatment of industrial furnaces and volatile organic compounds. What's more, it has strengthened the management of pollution discharge permits, with the aim of reducing pollution sources. 

The city has developed clean heating by replacing coal combustion with central heating, promoted the use of new energy vehicles, enhanced the management of vehicle emissions and clamped down on dust pollution control. 

According to data released by the Shanxi Department of Ecology and Environment, the number of days with good air quality increased from 221 in 2019 to 261 in 2021. Moreover, the concentrations of PM2.5 and sulfur dioxide have both declined for five consecutive years.

Sunset glows over the Taohe River, flowing through urban Yangquan. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

The Taohe River, the mother river of Yangquan, once suffered from heavy pollution for a long time due to disorderly development along the waterway, the discharge of sewage on both banks and the random dumping of garbage. 

Now, the water quality of the four sections of the river has risen to Grade-III, which equates to a promising level in China's five-tier quality system for surface water.

That's in the wake of the introduction of more urban domestic sewage treatment. Then the city has paid close attention to industrial, agricultural and rural pollution prevention and control, implementing the cleaning up of black and malodorous bodies of water, and carrying out water ecological restoration and conservation of river basins.

In addition, Yangquan has guided its local counties and districts to effectively restore polluted land. To date, the city has restored 1,339 hectares of land and transformed local abandoned open-pit mines into 320 ha of cultivated land, more than 913 ha of forest and 140 ha of grassland.