Pollutionwatch: Air contamination drops by 30% in China

WHO database lowers Beijing's particulate ranking from 40th worst in world to 187th, as coal plants flagged as key culprit

Beijing is slowly shedding its image as the world's most polluted city. In 2013, it ranked as the 40th worst city for the particulate PM2.5 in the World Health Organisation global database. Four years on, thanks in part to a crackdown on polluters, it stands in 187th place.

Air pollution in the 62 Chinese cities tracked by the WHO dropped by an average of 30% between 2013 and 2016. China's air pollution problems are often blamed on the country's rapid industrial growth but the problems probably date back to the 1950s.