Beijing’s air quality has improved, expected to drop out of list of 200

China’s capital Beijing’s bad air quality has improved in recent years and the Chinese capital is expected to drop out of a list of 200 most polluted cities in the world this year, data compiled by IQAir AirVisual showed on Thursday.

Beijing "is on track" to reduce PM2.5—tiny particles that are the deadliest air pollutants—by nearly 20 percent this year compared to 2018, Swiss air purification technology company IQAir's research arm AirVisual said.

The capital city has been on the frontline of a war on pollution launched in 2014 and has worked to shut down and relocate polluting industries, improve fuel and emission standards and reduce coal consumption both in the city and in surrounding regions.

The average hourly PM2.5 readings in the smog-choked Chinese capital fell to 42.6 micrograms per cubic metre of air in the first eight months of 2019, down from 52.8 for the same period last year.

"Compared to a decade earlier, the difference is even more striking," the report said. "The PM2.5 concentration in the first eight months of 2019 was less than half that of the same period in 2009."

The annual average PM2.5 concentration reached an eye-watering 104.0 in 2010. It began a steady decline in 2013.

But the current levels are still four times higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

China has said that it will adopt more efficient and targeted measures during its campaign against pollution in 2019, but will not relax its efforts or ease the crackdown on violators.