June 5 is World Environment Day. Chongqing Ecology and Environment Bureau released the 2019 Chongqing's Eco-Environment Bulletin on June 3. Chongqing's environmental quality has continued to improve, with ecology priority and green development becoming the theme of Chongqing's development, according to the bulletin.

What ecological environment changes did Chongqing experience in 2019?

A village in Chongqing

According to a comparison made between the 2018 Chongqing's Eco-Environment Bulletin and the one released this year, it is easy to find those changes in Chongqing's ecological environment had improved.

It can be seen that Chongqing's ecological environment experienced the following changes in 2019.

With clearer water, the overall water quality of the trunk stream of the Yangtze River in Chongqing was rated as "excellent." Meanwhile, the water quality of 15 monitoring sections was Class III.

One section of the Yangtze River

The water quality of tributaries of the Yangtze River was generally good. Among the 196 monitoring sections in 114 rivers, the proportion of sections rated as Class I-III, Class IV, Class V, and Below-Class V water quality rose from 81.1%, 12.7%, 3.1% and 3.1% in 2018 to 87.8%, 8.6%, 3.1%, and 0.5%, respectively. The proportion of sections with water quality, satisfying water functions increased from 86.7% to 93.9%.

With clearer air, the number of days with good air quality increased by 23 days. In 2019, Chongqing recorded 316 days with good air quality, the same as in 2018. Specifically, the number of days with excellent air quality reached 119, up 23 from 96 in 2018; no days with heavy pollution were recorded, and the concentration of PM2.5 decreased from 40μg/m³ to 38μg/m³.

The blue sky, which is seen under Chaotianmen Bridge

With less noise, construction noise complaints fell 15.9% year on year. In 2019, the average daytime equivalent sound level of environmental noise in Chongqing was 52.0 dB, down 2.4 dB from 54.4 dB in 2018, and that of road traffic noise was 64.6 dB, down 1.5 dB from 66.1 dB in 2018. The construction noise complaints also fell 15.9% year on year.

With the cleaner environment, the pilot projects of garbage classification were launched in 43 sub-districts and towns. In 2019, the city treated 7.38 million tons of household wastes, the harmless treatment rate of urban household waste was maintained at 100%, and the incineration rate of household wastes reached 55%. Chongqing fulfilled the targets set in the 13th Five-Year Plan. The output of sludge from sewage treatment plants in the city was about 1 million tons, with the harmless disposal rate rising to 94% from 87% in 2018.

Cars on the Shibanpo Yangtze River Bridge

With the greener environment, 14 urban parks were added. From 2018 to 2019, the area of established gardens and green spaces in Chongqing increased from 59,430 hectares to 61,765 hectares, the area of green spaces built in parks from 27,852 hectares to 28,243 hectares, the area of landscaping from 63,601 hectares to 66,395 hectares, and the number of urban parks from 528 to 542. Per capita park area increased from 16.34 square meters to 16.49 square meters. The forestland area increased from 4,527,333 hectares in 2018 to 4,534,667 hectares, the forest area from 3,976,000 hectares to 4,132,000 hectares, and the forest coverage from 48.3% to 50.1%.

Kaizhou Hanfeng Lake Wetland Park

With improved ecology, four new national wetland parks were added. In 2019, four new national wetland parks were added in Chongqing, including Tengzigou in Shizhu County, Lixiang Lake in Nanchuan District, Anju in Tongliang District, and Daxi in Xiushan County. The number of national wetland parks across the city that have passed the inspection and acceptance reached 19, covering an area of 20,000 hectares.

The corner of a wharf in Beibei District

With improved weather, the number of days with temperature above 35℃ decreased by 16.5 days. In 2019, the city's average temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours were all close to those of ordinary years and the year of 2018. The average annual temperature was 17.6℃, and the number of days with temperature above 35℃ was 26.6, down 16.5 days from 43.1 days in 2018.

Investment in ecological and environmental protection accounted for 3.38% of GDP. In 2019, the city's investment in ecological and environmental protection exceeded RMB 79.7 billion, accounting for 3.38% of GDP, while in 2018, the city invested RMB 36.778 billion in environmental protection, accounting for 1.81% of GDP that year.