Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Shanxi province has seen continuous improvements in environmental quality and green development by integrating carbon reduction, pollution control, afforestation, and economic growth, marking substantial progress in building a "beautiful Shanxi".

The province has intensified efforts in the Blue Sky Protection Campaign, focusing on key industries, regions, and time periods to enhance multi-pollutant regional collaborative control. Compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Shanxi's comprehensive air quality index has decreased from 5.18 to 4.30, a 17.0 percent reduction, and the proportion of days with good air quality has risen from 71.0 percent to 74.2 percent, meeting national secondary air quality standards.

Shanxi sees continuous improvements in environmental quality and green development. [Photo/Shanxi Economic Daily]

In water conservation, Shanxi has consolidated gains in comprehensive ecological management actions along the Yellow River's central section. The proportion of surface water bodies meeting national quality standards has increased from 70.7 percent at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period to 94.7 percent in 2024, surpassing the national average for two consecutive years.

The province is actively promoting green development and advancing clean heating transformations, achieving over 7.15 million household coal replacements. It is also transitioning public and taxi fleets to new energy sources, with hydrogen-powered trucks operating in Linfen and Lyuliang. Progress in pollution and carbon reduction innovation, climate finance, and zero-carbon industrial zones is underway, with a public "carbon benefit-sharing" participation mechanism now established.

With these initiatives taking effect, Shanxi is committed to safeguarding its natural environment through higher standards and concrete actions, fostering harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.