Yangquan boasts blue skies and crystal-clear waters. [Photo/Yangquan Daily]

Yangquan recorded 130 days of good air quality in the first half of this year, an increase of 18 days compared to the same period last year, with the proportion of good air quality days reaching 71.8 percent.

The city's comprehensive air quality index improved to 4.16, a 19.1 percent year-on-year decrease. All six key air quality indicators, including PM2.5, PM10, and nitrogen oxides, showed year-on-year declines, achieving the best levels on record.

These improvements underscore the city's commitment to enhancing air quality, providing a strong foundation for sustainable development. Yangquan employs advanced technologies such as aerial video, drone patrols, online monitoring, and mobile surveillance to conduct continuous, comprehensive supervision of the atmospheric environment, allowing for precise identification of major pollution sources.

The city has also established a robust dust pollution prevention management system, targeting construction, road, and bare land dust, as well as unorganized emissions from industrial enterprises.

Strict measures are enforced against violations, such as transporting coal, coal powder, coke, and sand without proper covering. Joint enforcement operations were conducted 40 times during the same period, uncovering 9,800 violations of restricted access, 425 instances of improper lane usage, 52 cases of spillage, and 20 instances of inadequate covering.

Yangquan utilizes automatic monitoring and a foundational database system for daily oversight of key pollution units. Visual monitoring points are being established to identify pollution issues related to road dust, construction dust, hotspots, and mobile emissions.

A local official emphasized that efforts will continue to focus on dust control and promote the use of clean energy for short-haul transportation, aiming to make blue skies and white clouds the city's most distinctive feature.