Air quality in China has reportedly improved under the country’s stringent travel restrictions and economic measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post on Monday, China's ministry of ecology and environment said the average concentration of fine particulate matter(PM2.5) across the mainland between January 20 and April 4 was 18-point-four percent less than the same time period last year. 

The ministry said the average number of days with good air quality also rose by seven-point-five percent over the cited period. 

The daily also cited satellite imagery from the U.S. and European space agencies, which showed nitrogen dioxide emissions in China’s eastern and central regions, including Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, was 10 to 30 percent lower than usual between January and February. 

Due to the economic slowdown resulting from the virus’ outbreak, China’s road freight volume and oil products consumption during the two-month period also dropped 25 percent and 14 percent on-year, respectively.

However, environmental experts are concerned the improvement in China's air quality will likely be short-lived as the country is set to implement stimulus measures to resuscitate its sagging economy.