HAIKOU /China/, 10 November. /TASS/. Haikou, the administrative centre of South China's Hainan province, ranked first among 168 major cities of the People's Republic of China in terms of air quality in January-September, Haikou Daily reported citing the Ecology and Environmental Protection Department.

According to the paper, ecologists recorded very clean air in Haikou for all 30 days in September. The composite quality index was only 1.81. The concentration of pollutants such as PM2.5 (the smallest dust of 10 nm) reached 12 micrograms per cubic metre, PM10 (suspended particles up to 10 microns in diameter) 20 micrograms, O3 (ozone) 112 micrograms, SO2 (sulphur dioxide) 5 micrograms, NO2 (nitrogen oxide) 11 micrograms and CO (carbon monoxide) 0.5 micrograms.

As indicated, SO2 levels have fallen by 28.6%, NO2 by 8.3% and O3 by 1.8% compared to the same period in 2023. For CO, the indicator remained at the same level as last year.

Haikou is an important economic cluster, accounting for about a third of Hainan's gross regional product. This city of 2.9 million people, which is also the province's main cultural, scientific and educational centre, is actively promoting international projects. The Chinese authorities are creating increasingly favourable conditions for multinational companies to set up headquarters and representative offices, and are actively attracting foreign investment.