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)