On June 29, 2002, the National People's Congress approved new and comprehensive cleaner production legislation, the Cleaner Production Promotion Law. This new law is the most significant of a number of initiatives the Chinese government has taken on pollution control nationwide as one of China's key strategies for sustainable development. It is unprecedented, according to the Cleaner Production in China website developed by the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), for being the first national law in the world to establish cleaner production (pollution control) as a national policy, and to lay out a strategy for its promotion and implementation. The law, which became effective January 1, 2003, requires beginning-to-end control over all the links in the production process, such as production design, selection of resources and raw materials, techniques and technologies, equipment maintenance and recycling and re-use of waste, so as to reduce pollution and promote recycling. As of January 1, 2003 there is a tax on all industrial pollutant emissions, not just those over state-prescribed standards.Funds collected go to special fund for environmental protection.
Another new law, the Law on Appraising Environmental Impact effective September 1, 2003, requires departments concerned under the State Council and local governments and departments concerned above city level to make an organized appraisal on environmental impact in the course of planning.
The State Environmental Protection Administration in 2002 authorized the presence of specialized personnel at the 13 key national projects to assess and control their environmental impact. These projects included the laying of railroad lines in QinghaiProvince and Tibet and the laying of pipeline transporting natural gas from western China to the eastern coastal areas.
Water pollution control was strengthened. By the end of 2002, the Chinese government had invested over 40 billion yuan in protecting the environment at areas around the reservoir and dam of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.In 2001, 37 key sources of pollution in the Three Gorges reservoir area were closed down, and waste water discharged by 60 key enterprises in this area causing industrial pollution was 15.6 percent less than that of the previous year; and various discharged pollutants was 8,000 tons, among which chemical oxygen demand dropped by 48.3 percent. The heavily polluted TaihuLake area started to receive a special "infusion"—clean water is infused from the Yangtze River into this freshwater lake with a drainage area of 36,900 sq km. The initiation of this project greatly improved the water environment of the TaihuLake area, cut down major water pollutants—phosphorus, nitrogen and permanganate—by 56 percent, 25 percent and 9 percent, respectively, as against four years ago. And the quality of city water in cities like Shanghai, with TaihuLake water as the source, has also been improved, benefiting close to 10 million people.
In 2002, air quality in China's cities was further improved, and among the 339 cities monitored by environmental protection departments, air quality in 117 cities have attained or exceeded the national second-class standard and that of 10 cities like Haikou, Sanya and Zhaoqing achieved the first-class standard. Car exhaust discharge in most cities reached the European No. 1 Standard while some large cities like Beijing have started to implement the No. 2 Standard.According to a national plan, by 2005, the total volume of discharge of major pollutants throughout the country will have been reduced by 10 percent as against 2000, of which the discharge of sulfur dioxide will have dropped by 20 percent, and the centralized treatment rate of city sewage will have reached 45 percent. By that time, the environmental pollution in most areas will have been alleviated, the environment quality in key cities and areas improved, and the ecological deterioration brought under control.
Governments on the municipal level, too, made significant efforts in environmental protection. A nationwide campaign on monitoring and improving air quality continues. As of July 2000, each city in China has been required to publish an Air Pollution Index measured for the urban region each day. Daily reports on the air quality in 47 major Chinese cities as well as on the water quality in the HuaiheRiver Basin are available on the Internet at China Environmental Protection, the environmental information center website of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
The air quality in Beijing has steadily been improving, and in 2002 residents enjoyed 201 days of good air quality. Other improvements in Beijing ranged from the organized manner in which the city now collects trash in its 250 urban neighborhoods, to its increased capacity for urban sewage treatment, recycling of solid industrial waste and treatment of urban waste to its advancing afforestation levels. By the year 2002, forest cover in Beijing had reached 45.5 percent. In early 2003, it was reported that the Beijing municipal government plans to spend some 92.7 billion yuan (about US$11.17 billion) in preventing and treating environmental pollution between 2003 and 2007. Another example of a major municipal project: Shanghai, in a project begun in 2000 to restore the badly polluted SuzhouRiver, aims to improve the quality of the river water, reduce air pollution, raise the treatment rate of solid residue and further increase the percentage of urban green coverage. The city hopes that by 2010, the water quality of the SuzhouRiver, as well as that of the HuangpuRiver, will be improved to levels that will enable a healthy habitat for fish.
In regard to indoor pollution — cited in a 2002 World Health Organization report as one of the 10 major health threats worldwide -- China in 2003 issued its first regulation on standards for indoor air quality by establishing a ceiling for 13 chemical pollutants including formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia and several harmful particulate matters.
