Approximately 84 percent of effluent outlets discharged excessive pollutants to sea in China in 2005, according to a yearly report on the marine quality of China issued by the State Oceanic Administration.

 

The excessive pollutants were mainly nutritive salt and fecal coliform, the report said.

 

The ratio was calculated on the basis of the monitoring results from 507 sampled effluent outlets from all the 11 coastal Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

 

In the provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Zhejiang, the Tianjin Municipality and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the ratio went as high as 90 percent, the report said.

 

In the past year, over 31.7 billion tons of polluted water were discharged from land to sea, approximately 9.6 billion tons more than 2000, according to the report.

 

The increasing discharge of land pollutants to sea contaminated nearly half of Chinese sea water, and also lead to the deterioration of environment and eco-systems in bayous, bays and wetlands, the report said.

 

The water quality of Chinese seas was not inspiring in the past year, and monitoring results show that approximately 139,000 square meters of sea water failed to reach the standard of clean water, basically the same as the average level in recent years, the report said.

 

The main pollutants were inorganic nitrogen, activated phosphate and oil, it said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2006)