Municipal officials in this east China metropolis Shanghai say the city's concerted efforts to improve its environment are paying off.

Shanghai has set targets to build itself into a safe and pollution-free city.

"With great efforts of all parties concerned, we have made obvious achievements this year and will soon work out our tasks for the coming years," said Xu Zuxin, director of the Shanghai Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

Investment in environmental protection this year is expected to exceed 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), more than 3 percent of the gross domestic product of the city.

By the end of September this year, 250 of the 273 projects listed in the second-round of the three-year action plan (2003-05) had been initiated and 63 projects have been accomplished.

Sewage treatment capacity had increased by 3.08 million tons per day this year and the water quality of rivers and streams in the city had visibly improved.

To protect the city's water, most poultry farms along the upper reaches of the Huangpu River were shut down and most of the temporary garbage storage facilities along Suzhou Creek removed.

Better air quality displayed itself in more sunny days thanks to more furnaces in factories and vehicles running on the street using clean energy, Xu said.

Efforts have been made to cover the 20,000 plus construction sites in the city to reduce dust.

The city has applied household garbage classification systems in 2,523 residential complexes and has constructed 127 compression stations to treat household garbage.

The fourth phase of the Laogang Landfill Ground where the city dumps most of its garbage and the second phase of Jiangqiao Household Garbage Incinerator are moving along.

Xu said treatment of industrial pollution has always topped the authority's priorities.

Major pollutant sources in Wusong Industrial Park, Taopu Industrial Park and Wujing Industrial Park have all been combed, shut down or converted to environmentally-friendly production.

Shanghai Chemical Industrial Zone and Caohejing Economic and Technological Development Zone have initiated trial work to construct a recycling economy.

Meanwhile, the authority has cut down on the use of fertilizers and pesticides to protect soil.

Green land construction has also grown, with 2,751 hectares of public green space and 24,216 hectares of new woods planted in the past two years.

Shanghai has also ended its history of having no national-level natural preservation areas by developing two: Dongtan in Chongming Island and Jiuduansha in Pudong.

"Enterprises and the public shall enhance their environmental protection awareness and legislators may consider more severe punishment for violators," Xu said.

(China Daily November 25, 2004)