Local villagers enjoy a warm home in the winter in the rural parts of Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

Qingdao, a coastal city in China's eastern Shandong province, received an A grade in the performance evaluation of winter clean heating projects in the country's northern region, according to a notice recently issued by the Ministry of Finance.

This year, 70,600 villagers in the rural parts of Qingdao have achieved clean heating through centralized heating. In addition, most rural families have made the switch from traditional coal-based heating to heating powered by air source heat pumps or gas.

Thanks to the upgrade, the indoor temperature in most rural homes has increased from 6 C to above 16 C.

The achievement was partly due to the support Qingdao received in the first half of 2022. The support came in the form of a three-year air pollution prevention and control fund worth 2.1 billion yuan ($293.96 million) by the central government.

Qingdao has also completed the coal-to-gas conversion of clean heating in urban areas on its east coast and part of clean heating work in its rural areas. The city has completed clean heating renovations for 200,000 households in rural areas and energy-saving renovations for 10,000 rural houses so far this year.

Qingdao receives an A grade in the performance evaluation of winter clean heating projects in the country's northern region. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]

This year, 70,600 villagers in the rural parts of Qingdao achieve clean heating through centralized heating. [Photo/Qingdao Daily]