The impressive Bahe River in Xi'an stretches out as far as the eye can see. [Photo/Xi'an Daily]

From 2012 to 2021, Xi'an – capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province – has made exponential progress in improving its ecosystem and environment, in a process that has boosted the standard of living of its residents and the quality of life for everybody in the city.

Air quality

To improve its air quality, Xi'an has actively implemented disciplined pollution controls and haze reduction, rolling out a series of initiatives to deepen and improve its air pollution control measures.

The payback has been excellent and the number of days with excellent or good air quality in Xi'an increased from 138 to in 2012 to 265 in 2021.

Last year, the city's concentration of key PM2.5 – or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less – was 41 micrograms per cubic meter, a hefty year-on-year decrease of 19.6 percent.

Water environment

Over the past 10 years, Xi'an has continued to promote its river and lake governance, especially after the introduction of the three-year action plan for that in 2019.

As a result, the main rivers in the city have basically eliminated inferior Grade V water bodies.

In 2021, the newly built greenway on the basis of the Bahe, Weihe and Fenghe rivers and the Qinling Mountains opened to the public – integrating cycling, walking, sightseeing, leisure and other activities.

With the continuous improvement of the water environment, more than 5,000 mu (333.33 hectares) of water surface has been restored in Kunming and Meipi lakes and in other water bodies in Xi'an.

The magnificent and pristine slopes of the Qinling Mountains grace the region. [Photo/Xi'an news network]

Qinling Mountains

Xi'an has promoted the ecosystem and environment protection and the restoration of environmental problems in the Qinling Mountains through the establishment of a long-term mechanism.

As the conservation of the Qinling Mountains has achieved tangible phased results, the living environment for wild animals and plants there has continued to improve.

The population of national rare wild animals in the mountain range, such as takins, golden monkeys, gorals and black bears, has grown steadily.

Greening and afforestation

Over the past three years, Xi'an has established and renovated more than 100 green space squares and pocket parks each year, adding more than 10 million square meters of urban green space.

As of April 2021, the total number of parks in Xi'an had reached 132 and the total length of greenways had exceeded 1,100 kilometers.

In addition, Xi'an has won the title of National Forest City three times in the past 10 years.