In China, air pollution increased in 2023 for the first time in ten years

China’s air quality worsened in 2023, for the first time since the country launched its “war on pollution” in 2013, according to a study published Friday, December 22. This year is the first “where the national average level of [particules fines] PM2.5 in China increases year on year” since this date, notes this study by the independent institute Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). This increase is explained by a “general increase in human-caused emissions”coupled with “unfavorable weather conditions”underlines this organization based in Finland.

The year 2023 was marked by the lifting of the drastic restrictions put in place by China after the Covid-19 pandemic, which had caused a sharp slowdown in economic activity and pollution. The country launched a campaign against air pollution in 2013, closing dozens of coal-fired power plants and moving heavy industry units, in order to combat the smog that choked most of its large cities, particularly in winter. .

This campaign has until now resulted in a continuous drop in PM2.5 recorded in the air, without however always meeting the standards of the World Health Organization. According to the WHO, prolonged exposure to excessive levels of these fine particles can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.