A view of Daming Lake in Jinan [Photo/VCG]

The air quality in Jinan, capital of Shandong province has seen significant improvement over the past five years, reported by Jinan municipal government at a news conference on Feb 3.

The average annual density of PM2.5 in the city in 2020 was 42.7 percent lower than in 2015, while the overall proportion of good air days reached 62 percent, an increase of 13.8 percentage points over 2015.

Officials said that these achievements were made possible through bold environmental initiatives, such as the upgrading of coal-burning power plants, phasing out high-emission vehicles, and the formulation of a sewage treatment plan during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).

In addition, a total of 978 gas-fired boilers have been transformed with low nitrogen, 81 traditional industrial areas have been renovated, more than 38,000 old diesel vehicles have been scrapped, and 557 million yuan ($86.21 million) in subsidies have been offered. The city has also built a smart platform to monitor environmental data.