BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- China is in a "grave" situation in the fight against air pollution, since coal remains the dominant energy source, according to a report submitted here Wednesday to the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for review.

    "As the economy develops fast and energy consumption keeps rising, China has seen a complicated environmental situation in the past 20 to 30 years, which in many developed countries took hundreds of years" to become evident, said the report.

    The report said coal, the main cause of soot, sulfur dioxide and other polluting substances, accounts for 70 percent of China's total energy use.

    "Our prevention and treatment of air pollution has made progress, but we are still in a grave situation, and the task is still arduous," said Zhou Shengxian, Minister of Environmental Protection.

    In 2008, Beijing had 274 blue-sky days with the help of vehicle restrictions for the Olympic Games and a 15-billion-U.S-dollar investment in air quality. In 1998, the figure was only 100.

    Beijing uses a five-grade classification of air quality on the basis of pollution indices, with Grade I being the best and Grade V the worst. Days with Grade I and II air quality are regarded as blue sky days.

    However, the average air quality for 23.2 percent of Chinese cities was still below level II. The report said the concentration of sulfur dioxide and other particulate matter was still "comparatively high" in most cities.

    The air quality standard now only covers three items: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, which cannot fully reflect real air conditions, the report said. It said China would incorporate other factors like ozone and fine particulate matter to better reflect air quality.

    Zhou said future work to reduce emissions would focus on closing more facilities in such sectors as electric power, iron-smelting, steel-making and paper-making, building more desulfurization facilities and ensuring they function smoothly.

    Air quality will be linked to rewards or punishments given to city administrators, he said.

    Reports on vocational education and rural social security were also submitted Wednesday for review at the eighth session of the 11th NPC Standing Committee.

    Chairman Wu Bangguo presided over the meeting.