BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China reported its highest share of days with good air quality on record in 2025, the latest sign of a continuously improving environment, an official said Thursday.

The proportion of days with good or excellent air quality rose to 89.3 percent in the country last year, with the average concentration of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, falling to 28 micrograms per cubic meter, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said on the sidelines of the annual session of the national legislature that concluded on Thursday.

Over the past five years, the country's PM2.5 level has dropped 20 percent, while the number of heavily polluted days decreased 25 percent, Huang said. Water quality has also improved markedly, as the share of surface water with a good quality rating reached 91.4 percent, far exceeding the target set for the 2021-2025 period.

China's ecological environment has improved significantly in recent years as green development has gained momentum across the country.

Huang said the proportion of good-quality water in the Yangtze River basin has increased by 30 percentage points over the past decade and the population of Yangtze finless porpoises has risen to 1,426. The number of Tibetan antelopes on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau has also grown to more than 300,000.

Looking ahead, China will step up efforts to advance green development, such as strengthening water pollution control, Huang said, adding that more efforts will be made to expand water pollution monitoring networks and address pollution in smaller rivers and lakes. ■