Air quality in China: Trends, drivers and mitigation

The size of the People’s Republic of China’s (henceforth ‘China’) economy has increased by 75-fold since economic reforms began in the late 1970s. Environmental policies were initially lax, especially during the 1980s and 1990s, which led to a substantial deterioration in China’s air quality. Megacity regions frequently experience episodes of smog, particularly during stagnant weather conditions. During these episodes, high concentrations of aerosols have been recorded. High concentrations of ambient fine aerosol (with an aerodynamic diameter of