China's dizzyingly rapid economic
growth is exerting immense pressure on the country's natural
environment, a senior official said at a press conference held in
Beijing on Thursday.
Wang Yuqing, vice minister of the State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA), said that China has followed
the classic extensive economic growth pattern characterized by huge
input, high consumption and heavy pollution. This has put a massive
strain on the country's limited urban and natural resources.
"The total amount of pollutants discharged in some cities is in
excess of environmental capacities," Wang added.
At present, urban air quality in China is a prime issue.
According to statistics taken from 500 cities under the
quantitative examination system for comprehensive control of urban
environment (QESCCUE) in 2004, 290 cities failed to meet Grade II
national air quality standards, and 119 of them had air quality
that didn't even satisfy Grade III standards.
QESCCUE was implemented by the SEPA in China's key cities,
including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, in 1989.
Water quality in 50 cities was not up to scratch either. Only 50
percent of urban water sources met the minimum standards. The
quality of drinking water sources in some cities did not even come
close to meeting national standards.
In addition, garbage piles around cities, vehicle emission, noise,
dust and smoke pollution are a cause of much aggravation in most
cities.
On the subject of garbage, urban environmental infrastructure is
poor in many cities. According to the same set of QESCCUE
statistics, the average treatment rate of urban sewage across China
is only 32.33 percent with zero treatment in 193 cities. The
environmentally friendly disposal of urban garbage is 57.76 percent
on the average with zero disposal rates in 160 cities. The
centralized disposal rate of hazardous waste (that is, medical
waste) across all cities in China is 60.44 percent on the average
with 155 cities (about 30 percent) having no such disposal
processes at all.
According to Wang, there are three main areas of concern for
China's urban environment.
First, urban environmental pollution is expanding to the outskirts
of cities and their surrounding areas. Water sources, including
surface and groundwater sources, are being polluted to an alarming
degree. Soil and air pollution are also serious problems.
Collectively, these issues affect the coordinated development of
urban and rural areas.
Second, pollution caused by vehicle emission has increased
remarkably. China is now the fourth largest manufacturer and the
third largest consumer of automobiles in the world with 27.42
million vehicles on the roads in 2004.
Third, ecological imbalances in urban areas have worsened.
"The degradation of the urban ecosystem has further reduced
regeneration capacities, and further aggravated the gross imbalance
between resource supply and socio-economic development demand,"
Wang said.
(China.org.cn June 3, 2005)