THE air quality of Shenzhen in February ranked 10th among 74 major cities in China, according to monitoring results published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

    The report showed that Lhasa, Haikou, Xiamen, Kunming and Zhoushan are among the top five, followed by Huizhou, Fuzhou, Zhangjiakou and Lishui.

    The worst cities in terms of air quality were Baoding, Xingtai, Shenyang, Urumqi and Harbin, and followed by Zhengzhou and four other Hebei cities.

    The air quality in February was worse than that of the same period last year, and concentration of PM2.5, fine particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 microns, increased by 50 percent, Shenzhen’s environmental authorities said.

    In February, the concentration of PM2.5 particles in Yantian District was 40 micrograms per cubic meter, doubling the amount of February last year, though it was the least among six districts in the city. The concentration in Bao’an District hit 62 micrograms per cubic meter, up 72 percent over the same period last year.

    The increase of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and inhalable particles in the air was the result of less rainfall and wind in February, according to the environment authority.

    Shenzhen has set a goal to keep the year-round average concentration of PM2.5 particles below 33 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015. The city achieved a target of lowering yearly PM2.5 concentration to 34 micrograms per cubic meter in 2014.

    (Han Ximin)