An overview of Yuantouzhu, or Turtle's Head Isle scenic area in Wuxi. [Photo/WeChat account: news-wuxixinwen]
The natural environment in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, has significantly improved after 10 years of efforts by local authorities, local media reported on Aug 3.
The annual concentration of PM 2.5 decreased from 75 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 29 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021. The ratio of days with good air quality increased from 56.9 percent in 2013 to 82.2 percent in 2021, making it one of the first cities in Jiangsu to satisfy class two of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.
Birds fly over Taihu Lake in Wuxi, where more than 235 bird species can be found. [Photo/WeChat account: news-wuxixinwen]
In the first four months of the year, the water quality of Taihu Lake in Wuxi was better than the lake's overall water quality and the 13 main rivers running into the lake qualified for use as centralized drinking water.
Over the past 10 years, Wuxi has taken measure to phase out its outdated production capacity. It has reduced steel production by 5.2 million metric tons and concrete production by 7.63 million tons and shut down more than 1,000 chemical enterprises and 15,500 individual workshops.
This year, the city published a three-year action plan to further improve the natural environment, including an investment of 27.9 billion yuan ($4.13 billion) into 73 projects involving water treatment, low-carbon development, and environmental monitoring.
