BEIJING — China's surface water quality kept improving in the first half of this year in general, while some regions still trail in addressing pollution, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) said on Aug 27.

Some 74.5 percent of monitored waters reached national quality standards during the period, up 4.4 percentage points year-on-year, while the ratio of poor waters dropped by 2.6 percentage points to 4.3 percent, according to the MEE.

The water environment has improved markedly along the Yangtze River economic belt, with 81 percent of waters categorized as good quality by the end of June.

By 2020, all the waters in the drainage area of the Yangtze River and the rivers flowing into the Bohai Sea under state-level monitoring are expected to meet national standards of good quality.

The MEE named several provinces, including Liaoning and Shanxi, for having the most poor-quality waters and urged solid efforts in water pollution control.

The ministry said it will step up supervision on areas with slower progress to improve the water environment.