With billions of dollars of investment, China plans to gradually
mend the
Bohai
Sea's ecological system that has been deteriorating due to
pollution and irrational exploitation of ocean resources.
State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA) announced Thursday in Beijing
that the "Blue Sea Action Program" has be launched in the Bohai rim
area with the aim to halt discharge of industrial wastes, to
monitor environmental pollution and to restore the damaged
ecological system in the sea.
At
least 55.5 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion) in total investment will
make the 15-year program the biggest ever effort of China to
improve ocean environment, according to the SEPA.
The Bohai Sea is off the coast in north
China where is one of the country's most populous and developed
areas. Fishery, salt production, transportation and oil and gas
development have long been pillars of local economy in those
areas.
In
recent years, governments of Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong provinces
and Tianjin Municipality around the rim have set ambitious goals on
the development of the ocean-based economy.
However, economic growth has also produced side effects --
pollution of seawater became more and more serious, said Liu Xiuru,
director of the SEPA's office of maritime environmental
protection.
The shape of the Bohai gulf limits the inflow and outflow of
waters, which means the sea's self-clean ability is poor, and
excessive discharge of pollutants makes the situation worse, she
said.
In
addition, biological diversity has been damaged and some ocean
resources are on the verge of exhaustion due to rampant fishing
activities, she said.
The program has been jointly mapped out by the SEPA, the state
departments of ocean, transportation, and agriculture, and local
governments around the Bohai rim. The State Council has approved
the plan and required for full implementation by local
governments.
Liu Xiuru said that the program will be carried out in three phases
in the coming 15 years.
By
the year of 2005, enterprises along the Liaohe, Haihe and Yellow
rivers, which all end up running into the Bohai gulf, will have to
meet the state standards of waste discharge, and a number of waste
water disposal centers will be established in cities concerned, she
noted.
Discharges of major pollutants, such as nitrogen, phosphor, heavy
metals and crude oil, will be cut by 10 to 20 percent in the next
five years.
Implementation of the plans for the periods of 2006-2010 and
2011-2015 is expected to further bring about decrease in pollutant
discharges, establishment of sustainable ecological system, and
eventual improvement of the ocean environment of Bohai, Liu
said.
She said that the SEPA and local governments will carry out about
430 projects concerning pollution treatment, reconstruction of
ecological environment, and scientific research in the years to
2010.
Liu said that the program has been worked out on the basis of
thorough research and ample consultations by departments of the
central authorities and local governments, and current
technologies and experience of pollution control provide a sound
base for the implementation of the program.
She said that the 55.5-billion-yuan (US$6.7 billion) investment
should be bearable if compared with the financial strength of the
region as it accounts for only 0.5 percent of the annual GDP (gross
domestic product) of the Bohai rim area.
In
addition, various kinds of fund-raising channels will be adopted to
help ensure the capital input, Liu said.
(
November 8, 2001)