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ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Henan Province Tuesday reported the best air for four years this year.

As of Monday, the province had reported 215 days with an air quality index below 100, meeting the target of at least 200 days, the provincial air pollution prevention and treatment office said.

The concentration of PM2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that are more damaging to health, declined 8.6 percent year on year to 64 mg per cubic meter, it said. Currently it is below the annual target of 66 mg per cubic meter.

Since the winter heating season started in mid November, PM2.5 concentration fell 27 percent year on year, compared with last year.

Authorities in Henan have handed down environmental administrative fines totaling 280 million yuan (42.3 million yuan) this year.

China has set a target of reducing the average PM2.5 level by at least 15 percent in the cities around the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region between October 2017 and March 2018, compared to last year.

Seven cities in Henan were among the major targets for air pollution efforts.