Nearly 90 percent of China's big cities failed to meet air quality standards in 2014, but that was still an improvement on 2013 as the country's "war on pollution" began to take effect, the environment ministry said on Monday.

環保部周一表示，2014年中國近9成的大城市空氣質量不達標，但由于“向污染宣戰”行動開始奏效，已較2013年有所改善。

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said on its website that only eight of the 74 cities it monitors managed to meet national standards in 2014 on a series of pollution measures such as PM2.5, which is a reading of particles found in the air, carbon monoxide and ozone.

環保部在其網站上表示，2014年，檢測的74個城市中，只有八個城市在PM2.5（空氣中的細微顆粒）、一氧化碳含量及臭氧等污染物指標達到了國家標準。

China said last year it would "declare war on pollution" and it has started to eliminate substandard industrial capacity and reduce coal consumption.

去年，我國開始“向污染宣戰”，并已經開始淘汰落后工業產能并降低煤炭消耗。

In 2013, only three cities - Haikou on the island province of Hainan, Lhasa in Tibet autonomous region and the coastal resort city of Zhoushan - met the standards.

2013年，只有海南省的海口、西藏自治區的拉薩和海濱度假之城舟山3個城市達標。

They were joined in 2014 by Shenzhen, Huizhou and Zhuhai in southern Guangdong province, Fuzhou in neighbouring Fujian and Kunming in the southwest.

2014年新增達標城市為廣東省南部的深圳、惠州、珠海、福建省的福州和位于西南部的昆明。

Beijing is not among the 10 Chinese cities with the worst air quality nor among the 10 Chinese cities with the best air quality.

北京既不是十大空氣質量最差的城市，也不在十大空氣質量最好的城市之列。

Of the 10 worst-performing cities in 2014, seven were located in the heavy industrial province of Hebei, which surrounds the capital, Beijing, the ministry said. The cities of Baoding, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Handan and Hengshui, all in Hebei, filled the top six places.

環保部指出，2014年空氣質量最差的10個城市中，有七個位于首都北京周邊的重工業省份河北，其中，保定、邢臺、石家莊、唐山、邯鄲和衡水分列前六。

The ministry said the average PM2.5 reading in the Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin region stood at 93 micrograms per cubic metre last year. The state standard is 35 micrograms but China does not expect to bring the national average down to that level before 2030.

環保部稱，去年京津冀地區PM2.5年均濃度為93微克/立方米，而國家標準為35微克/立方米。預計在2030年以前，中國全國PM2.5平均濃度無法達到該水平。

The government has identified Hebei as a top priority when it comes to cutting smog, and it has set targets to slash coal consumption and close polluting industrial capacity, but the province has struggled to find alternative sources of growth.

目前，我國政府已將減少河北霧霾的工作列為當務之急，并設立了減少煤炭消耗和關閉污染產能的目標，不過河北省也在努力尋找替代能源以維持增長。

10 cities with best air quality

1 Haikou, capital city of South China's Hainan province

2 Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province

3 Lhasa, capital city of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region

4 Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province

5 Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province

6 Huizhou, South China's Guangdong province

7 Fuzhou, capital city of East China's Fujian province

8 Xiamen, East China's Fujian province

9 Kunming, capital city of Southwest China's Yunnan province

10 Zhongshan, South China's Guangdong province

十大空氣質量較好的城市：

1.?？冢ㄖ袊A南海南省省會城市）

2.舟山（中國華東浙江?。?/p>

3.拉薩（中國西南部西藏自治區省會城市）

4.深圳（中國華南廣東?。?/p>

5.珠海（中國華南廣東?。?/p>

6.惠州（中國華南廣東?。?/p>

7.福州（中國華東福建省省會城市）

8.廈門（中國華東福建?。?/p>

9.昆明（中國西南部云南省省會城市）

10.中山（中國華南廣東省）

10 cities with worst air quality

1 Baoding, North China's Hebei province

2 Xingtai, North China's Hebei province

3 Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei province

4 Tangshan, North China's Hebei province

5 Handan, North China's Hebei province

6 Hengshui, North China's Hebei province

7 Jinan, East China's Shandong province

8 Langfang, North China's Hebei province

9 Zhengzhou, North China's Henan province

10 Tianjin

十大空氣質量較差的城市：

1.保定（中國北部河北?。?/p>

2.邢臺（中國華北河北?。?/p>

3.石家莊（中國華北河北?。?/p>

4.唐山（中國華北河北?。?/p>

5.邯鄲（中國北部河北?。?/p>

6.衡水（中國華北河北?。?/p>

7.濟南（中國華東山東省）

8.廊坊（中國華北河北省）

9.鄭州（中國華北河南省）

10.天津

Vocabulary

carbon monoxide: 一氧化碳

ozone: 臭氧

eliminate: 消除

microgram: 微克

consumption: 消費

（譯者：Stellaliu 編輯：丁一）