China's Most Polluted Cities of 2013 Rankings Released -- 0/74 Meet International Standards

Greenpeace China released the summary of its 2013 survey of Chinese air quality, and the results are clear: The air isn’t.

Of the 74 cities in the report, none of them met the World Health Organization’s recommendations for particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5). Only five met the Chinese government’s less stringent standards for PM2.5 levels. In 2012, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection established an annual standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter for PM2.5. The WHO recommends a maximum of 10 micrograms per cubic meter, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard is 12. By any measure, China’s air is excessively polluted.

The worst polluted province is Hebei. Seven of its cities measured over 3 times the Chinese standard for PM2.5, and all six of the worst polluted cities are in Hebei. The worst city of all was Xingtai in southern Hebei. It averaged 155.2 micrograms per cubic meter.

Beijing, often the focus of media attention, finished 13th, with an average of 90.1, behind Xi’an and Tianjin among big cities, and just ahead of Wuhan and Chengdu.

Overall, northern China is much more polluted than southern China. Each of the top 13 most polluted cities were north of the Huai River, a traditional dividing line located in Henan.

Southern coastal cities are the least polluted. Each of Guangdong’s cities ranked among the 20 least polluted cities, and six of the nine average less than 50 micrograms per cubic meter. Both of Fuzhou’s cities, Fujian and Xiamen, met China’s standards, averaging 33.2 and 31.3 respectively. Finally, Haikou, on the paradise island of Hainan, south of Guangdong, was the least polluted of all, averaging 25.6 micrograms per cubic meter.

The 74 cities were chosen because they are among the first to implement new air quality standards put in place by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The top 20 worst polluted cities are as follows:

Ranking	City	Province	Average Annual PM2.5 Measure	Highest PM2.5 Measure
1	Xingtai	Hebei	155.2	688
2	Shijiazhuang	Hebei	148.5	676
3	Baoding	Hebei	127.9	675
4	Handan	Hebei	127.8	662
5	Hengshui	Hebei	120.6	712
6	Tangshan	Hebei	114.2	497
7	Jinan	Shandong	114.0	490
8	Langfang	Hebei	113.8	772
9	Xi’an	Shaanxi	104.2	598
10	Zhengzhou	Henan	102.4	422
11	Tianjin	Tianjin	95.6	394
12	Cangzhou	Hebei	93.6	380
13	Beijing	Beijing	90.1	646
14	Wuhan	Hubei	88.7	339
15	Chengdu	Sichuan	86.3	374
16	Wulumuqi	Xinjiang	85.2	387
17	Hefei	Anhui	84.9	383
18	Taizhou	Jiangsu	80.9	474
19	Taizhou	Jiangsu	80.8	513
20	Changsha	Hunan	79.1	325

Other notable cities:

24	Nanjing	Jiangsu	75.3	312
47	Qingdao	Shandong	61.7	280
48	Shanghai	Shanghai	60.7	421
55	Guangzhou	Guangdong	52.5	159
57	Dalian	Liaoning	50.7	224

The 10 least polluted cities:

Ranking	City	Province	Average Annual PM2.5 Measure	Highest PM2.5 Measure
1	Haikou	Hainan	25.6	130
2	Lasha	Tibet	26.0	101
3	Xiamen	Fujian	31.3	89
4	Danshan	Zhejiang	32.1	353
5	Fuzhou	Fujian	33.2	112
6	Kunming	Yunnan	35.5	123
7	Huizhou	Guangdong	37.2	121
8	Zhuhai	Guangdong	37.9	157
9	Shenzhen	Guangdong	39.7	131
10	Zhangjiakou	Hebei	43.1	471