Ministry: Efforts to curb pollution working

China's focus on the development of eco-civilization has met the annual targets for pollutant reduction and other progress in environmental protection, with improved air quality and more powerful supervision, according to an annual statement released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Thursday.

The statement said the levels of four major pollutants - sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the air, and chemical oxygen demand substances and ammoniacal nitrogen in water - have all been reduced year-on-year.

The greatest reduction was in nitrogen oxides at 6.7 percent. That was followed by reductions of 3.4 percent for sulfur dioxide, 2.9 percent for ammoniacal nitrogen and 2.47 percent for substances involving chemical oxygen demand.