In the second quarter of 2023, among 361 cities (including provincial-level counties), 231 cities (64.0%) were rated as "good" on the water environment index, while 98 cities (27.1%) were rated as "average". The remaining 32 cities (8.9%) were rated as "poor" or "very poor". Compared to the same period in 2022, water quality slightly improved in the second quarter of 2023. However, when compared to the first quarter of 2023, there was a slight decline in water quality.

In the first quarter of 2023, among the 361 cities (including provincial counties), 268 cities, or 74.2%, had a water environment index rating of "good". 78 cities, or 21.6%, were rated "average"; while 15 cities, or 4.2%, were rated "poor" or "very poor".

The 2022 Garbage Sorting Index evaluation covered a total of 100 cities. The average score is only 15.07, with more than half of the cities scoring below 10, indicating that garbage sorting is still at a low level. The evaluation shows that the three key measures required by the 14th Five-Year Period Urban Domestic Waste Separation and Disposal Facilities Development Plan, namely "removing bins and building stations, regular drop-off, and supervision and guidance", have not yet been effectively implemented in most cities. There remains a lack of capability in food waste treatment yet at the same time, there is more capacity than the amount of food waste treatable. Garbage incineration capacity has shown signs of surplus in many regions.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, among 361 cities (including provincial counties), there were 267 cities with excellent CWEI grades, accounting for 73.9%, 78 cities with average grades, accounting for 21.6%, and 16 cities with poor and poor grades, accounting for 4.5%.

In the third quarter of 2022, among 361 cities (including the provincial counties), there were 226 cities with excellent CWEI rating, accounting for 62.6%, 90 cities with average rating, accounting for 24.9%, and 45 cities with poor and poor rating, accounting for 12.5%.

The evaluation results show that among the 77 participating cities, Suzhou, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Tongling, Jiaxing, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao and Xuzhou are in the top 10; Tangshan, Xuchang, Luohe, Shijiazhuang, Huaian, Xining, Suqian, Quanzhou, Sanmenxia and Zhenjiang are in the bottom 10. The new cities included in the evaluation performed poorly overall, showing an obvious long-tail effect, resulting in 77 cities having a lower average score in the third quarter than the average score of 39 cities in the second quarter.

In the second quarter of 2022, among 361 cities (including provincial counties), there were 234 cities with excellent CWEI scores, accounting for 64.8%, 88 cities with average grades, accounting for 24.4%, and 39 cities with poor and poor grades, accounting for 10.8%, with a significant year-on-year improvement and a decline from the previous year.