China Friday released its official national environmental status
report for last year, which states that "the overall environmental
situation in China is still grave".
According to the annual environment report by the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), China's
environmental quality remained stable last year, while the country
enjoyed an economic growth rate of 7 percent.
Total pollutant discharge was roughly kept at the same level as in
the previous year, the report said. The nationwide industrial solid
waste discharge totaled 28.9 million tons, a 9.2 percent drop from
the figure for the previous year.
Pollution in all seven major rivers around the country increased to
some extent last year, with the water quality of the Yellow, Huaihe
and Liaohe rivers suffering the most because of their dramatic
drops in water volume.
Coastal pollution remained serious in the East China and Bohai
seas.
Urban air quality was almost the same as for the year 2000, but
total suspended particulate (TSP) pollution became more widely
spread.
Acid rain fell on around 30 percent of the country's territory but
the number of cities affected was slightly reduced, according to
the report.
Most cities around the country were slightly affected by noise
pollution, said the report.
Zhu Jianqiu, vice-minister with SEPA, also drew attention to the
country's problem of increasing desertification when answering
questions from the media.
He
said: "China places a high priority on combating
desertification."
According to Zhu, China's deserts and desertified areas cover 2.42
million square kilometers, with an annual expansion of more than
3,000 square kilometers.
More than 90 percent of usable natural grasslands in China, with a
total area of 135 million hectares, suffered varying degrees of
degradation last year, according to Zhu.
Statistics from the ministry indicate that sand storms last year
were more serious than in the previous year in terms of frequency
and intensity, with 18 sand storms covering 45 days from March to
May last year in northwestern, northern and northeastern parts of
China.
Zhu also pledged yesterday at the press conference, which was held
by the State Council Information Office and the SEPA, that the
Chinese Government would resolutely fight against pollution and
consistently improve the country's environment to make it possible
to achieve sustainable development.
"To protect the environment and resources is to ensure productivity
and improving the environment helps propel the productivity,'' said
Zhu, quoting President Jiang Zemin's previous remarks on the
country's environmental protection work.
The report also covered other environmental issues such as nuclear
radiation, forest conservation, soil erosion, biological diversity,
the ecological situation in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, red
tides, and progress of major environmental projects across the
country.
(China
Daily June 1, 2002)