去年全国9成城市空气质量不达标

Nearly 90 percent of China's big cities failed to meet air quality standards in 2017, but that was still an improvement on 2013 as the country's "war on pollution" began to take effect, the environment ministry said on Monday.

环保部周一表示，2017年中国近9成的大城市空气质量不达标，但由于“向污染宣战”行动开始奏效，已较2013年有所改善。

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said on its website that only eight of the 74 cities it monitors managed to meet national standards in 2017 on a series of pollution measures such as PM2.5, which is a reading of particles found in the air, carbon monoxide and ozone.

环保部在其网站上表示，2017年，检测的74个城市中，只有八个城市在PM2.5（空气中的细微颗粒）、一氧化碳含量及臭氧等污染物指标达到了国家标准。

China said last year it would "declare war on pollution" and it has started to eliminate substandard industrial capacity and reduce coal consumption.

去年，我国开始“向污染宣战”，并已经开始淘汰落后工业产能并降低煤炭消耗。

In 2013, only three cities - Haikou on the island province of Hainan, Lhasa in Tibet autonomous region and the coastal resort city of Zhoushan - met the standards.

2013年，只有海南省的海口、西藏自治区的拉萨和海滨度假之城舟山3个城市达标。

They were joined in 2017 by Shenzhen, Huizhou and Zhuhai in southern Guangdong province, Fuzhou in neighbouring Fujian and Kunming in the southwest.

2017年新增达标城市为广东省南部的深圳、惠州、珠海、福建省的福州和位于西南部的昆明。

Beijing is not among the 10 Chinese cities with the worst air quality nor among the 10 Chinese cities with the best air quality.

北京既不是十大空气质量最差的城市，也不在十大空气质量最好的城市之列。

Of the 10 worst-performing cities in 2017, seven were located in the heavy industrial province of Hebei, which surrounds the capital, Beijing, the ministry said. The cities of Baoding, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Handan and Hengshui, all in Hebei, filled the top six places.

环保部指出，2017年空气质量最差的10个城市中，有七个位于首都北京周边的重工业省份河北，其中，保定、邢台、石家庄、唐山、邯郸和衡水分列前六。

The ministry said the average PM2.5 reading in the Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin region stood at 93 micrograms per cubic metre last year. The state standard is 35 micrograms but China does not expect to bring the national average down to that level before 2030.

环保部称，去年京津冀地区PM2.5年均浓度为93微克/立方米，而国家标准为35微克/立方米。预计在2030年以前，中国全国PM2.5平均浓度无法达到该水平。

The government has identified Hebei as a top priority when it comes to cutting smog, and it has set targets to slash coal consumption and close polluting industrial capacity, but the province has struggled to find alternative sources of growth.

目前，我国政府已将减少河北雾霾的工作列为当务之急，并设立了减少煤炭消耗和关闭污染产能的目标，不过河北省也在努力寻找替代能源以维持增长。

10 cities with best air quality

1 Haikou, capital city of South China's Hainan province

2 Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province

3 Lhasa, capital city of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region

4 Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province

5 Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province

6 Huizhou, South China's Guangdong province

7 Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian province

8 Xiamen, East China's Fujian province

9 Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province

10 Zhongshan, South China's Guangdong province

十大空气质量较好的城市：

1.海口（中国华南海南省省会城市）

2.舟山（中国华东浙江省）

3.拉萨（中国西南部西藏自治区省会城市）

4.深圳（中国华南广东省）

5.珠海（中国华南广东省）

6.惠州（中国华南广东省）

7.福州（中国华东福建省省会城市）

8.厦门（中国华东福建省）

9.昆明（中国西南部云南省省会城市）

10.中山（中国华南广东省）

10 cities with worst air quality

1 Baoding, North China's Hebei province

2 Xingtai, North China's Hebei province

3 Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province

4 Tangshan, North China's Hebei province

5 Handan, North China's Hebei province

6 Hengshui, North China's Hebei province

7 Jinan, East China's Shandong province

8 Langfang, North China's Hebei province

9 Zhengzhou, North China's Henan province

10 Tianjin

十大空气质量较差的城市：

1.保定（中国北部河北省）

2.邢台（中国华北河北省）

3.石家庄（中国华北河北省）

4.唐山（中国华北河北省）

5.邯郸（中国北部河北省）

6.衡水（中国华北河北省）

7.济南（中国华东山东省）

8.廊坊（中国华北河北省）

9.郑州（中国华北河南省）

10.天津

Vocabulary

carbon monoxide: 一氧化碳

ozone: 臭氧

eliminate: 消除

microgram: 微克

consumption: 消费