China has successfully achieved its environmental improvement targets for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), with most indicators surpassing initial goals, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu told the country's top legislature.

While reporting to an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Huang said the country saw a 20 percent drop in average PM2.5 concentrations in cities at or above the prefectural level, more than double the 10 percent target.

The proportion of days with fairly good air quality — defined as an index below 100 on the 0-500 air quality scale — reached 89.3 percent across these cities, exceeding the target by 1.8 percentage points, he added.

Water quality also showed significant improvement, Huang said. Following a rise of 8 percentage points from 2020 levels, the share of surface water bodies rated Grade I to III reached 91.4 percent, compared to the target of 85 percent.

China has a five-tier quality system for surface water, with Grade I the best. Water of Grade III is good enough for most aquatic organisms to live in.