The overall air quality is worsening in China major 281 cities, according to the Head of Research Group on Air Quality Management Performance Evaluation report.

Professor Song Guojun, Head of Research Group on Air Quality Management Performance Evaluation introduces research results to media at Renmn University of China on Thursday in Beijing. [Photo by Jiao Meng/China.org.cn]

The report was released and by Renmin University School of Environment and Natural Resources, and is based on research spanning more than a year. This report is the first of its kind assessing China's air quality.

The report shows that only 10.67 percent of China's major 281 cities enjoy good air quality (air quality gradeⅡwith over 364 days in a year), while 75.8 percent have bad air quality (316 to 364 days) and 13.52% account have extremely bad air (less than 316 days) from 2005-2010.

Moreover, population exposed to bad air quality increased to 57.99 percent in 2010, and the number of people who were exposed to extremely bad air rose from 2005-2010, indicating that air quality is getting worse.

Research Group head Professor Song Guojun proposed to introduce a public performance evaluation mechanism through questionnaires. "We conducted a survey in a typical northeast industrial city and gave out 550 samples. The result shows 82.26 percent residents want air quality information and most of them are tend to participate in air quality protection planning," he said.