On September 12, 2016, the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) and NRDC jointly released the results of the 2015-2016 Pollution Information Transparency Index (PITI) assessment on the performance of 120 Chinese cities. For seven consecutive years since 2009, IPE and NRDC have conducted an annual evaluation of the disclosure status of various types of pollution source emissions across China. Beijing was ranked first this year as the city with the best pollution information disclosure practices. Environmental Protection Bureau officials from Beijing, Zhejiang, Shandong and Hebei Province attended the release event and participated in a lively discussion on how to improve pollution information disclosure and the PITI index for future assessments. NRDC China Program Director, Jingjing Qian, was cited by World Environment Magazine, a magazine published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, for her keynote speech about the crucial role of environmental transparency and public participation in environmental governance. The release event was also covered by many other important media outlets, including Southern Weekly and The Paper.