A view of Taizhou in East China's Zhejiang province [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

Taizhou, located in East China's Zhejiang province, made remarkable progress in preserving its ecology and environment throughout 2023, as reported by local media sources citing the municipal bureau of ecology and environment.

In terms of water quality, the period from January to November witnessed over 93 percent of sections at the county level or above meeting the standards for good quality. Notably, all 41 centralized drinking water sources at the county level or above achieved a perfect compliance rate in terms of water quality.

As a city with the longest coastline in Zhejiang, Taizhou has taken a plethora of measures to protect its marine areas, such as improving control of nitrogen and phosphorus levels in rivers that flow into the sea and integrating management of rivers and seas. The local government has also pioneered the implementation of a classification and grading system for marine sewage outlets, successfully evaluating 861 marine aquaculture projects and achieving a 100 percent completion rate for sewage outlet rectification. 

In addition, Taizhou has intensified its endeavors to combat air pollution and enhance air quality. Coordinated control measures targeting PM2.5 and ozone levels, along with simultaneous treatment of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, have been prioritized. As a result, Taizhou's comprehensive air quality ranked third in Zhejiang and 13th among 168 key cities nationwide. The city's Air Quality Index reached 95.8 percent, indicating that 95.8 percent of the days in the past year had good air quality, with a PM2.5 concentration of 22 micrograms per cubic meter.