Beijing's air quality ranking moved up dramatically to eighth place among 168 major Chinese cities in January. Last year the city ranked 66th, according to the city's environmental authority. 

The average concentration of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns — in the city was 38 micrograms per cubic meter in January, the lowest of 28 cities within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, the Beijing Ecology and Environment Bureau said.

Beijing reported a 53 percent decrease in PM2.5 density during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20) after series of measures were taken to tackle air pollution, including the closure of small polluting factories and increased use of clean energy, including the encouragement of electric vehicle use. 

The average concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing was 38 micrograms per cubic meter in 2020, marking a year-on-year decline of 9.5 percent. It was the lowest reading since data were first collected in 2013.