A ban on fireworks in downtown slashed the workload of street cleaners by nearly 80 percent during the Chinese New Year's Eve in Shanghai, but it seemed to have no impact on the air quality, which was not better than last year.

Shanghai banned fireworks within the Outer Ring Road this year. Police in thousands, helped by more than 300,000 volunteers in orange jackets, patrolled the streets during the New Year's Eve. The number of sales points for fireworks was reduced from more than 700 to about 70 this year, and people had to register with their ID cards to buy them.

The measures had an effect with no reports of fireworks from any place in downtown. A total of 33,919 kilograms of firework wastes -- all from outside the city's Outer Ring Road -- were cleaned, an 86.3 percent drop compared to last year, according to the city's fire bureau.

According to Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, air quality within the Outer Ring Road was also better. At 2am, the average density of PM2.5 was 96 microgram per cubic meter within the Outer Ring Road, while outside the ban area it stood at 152 microgram per cubic meter. The highest density was in Jiading District, at 291 microgram per cubic meter.

However, the general air quality on New Year's Eve this year was actually worse than last year.

The density of PM2.5 this year started picking up from about 40 at 6pm yesterday and peaked to around 130 microgram per cubic meter by 7am today.

Last year, the curve of the figure remained below this year's, and only soared to about 70 at 1am on New Year's Day, according to the environmental protection bureau.

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