BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Average density of PM2.5 in Beijing stayed at 58 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 2017, meeting the goal set by the State Council, an official said Wednesday.

The density dropped by 20.5 percent compared with the average level in 2016, Liu Baoxian, deputy director of Beijing environmental protection monitoring center, told a press conference.

An air pollution prevention and control action plan issued by the State Council in September 2013 ordered Beijing to reduce its PM 2.5 density to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter of air by 2017 from the average level of 90 micrograms per cubic meter of air in 2013.