Environmental Protection

China's environmental quality remained stable on a whole in 2005. The rapid increase in discharge of major pollutants was initially curbed, ecological protection and construction were intensified, and there was a remarkable progress of the public awareness of environmental protection.

Freshwater Quality

Monitoring of water quality on 411 sections of the seven major water systems in China showed that 41 percent of the sections met the national quality standard of Grade III for surface water, down 1 percentage point over the previous year; 32 percent of the sections met the quality standard of Grade IV or V, up 2 percentage points; and 27 percent were below Grade V, down 1 percentage point.

Seawater Quality

Monitoring of oceanic water quality at 293 offshore monitoring stations indicated that oceanic water met the national quality standard of Grade I and II in 67.3 percent of the stations, up 17.7 percentage points from the previous year; water at 8.9 percent of the stations met Grade III standard, down 6.5 percentage points; and water with Grade IV or inferior quality was found in 23.8 percent of the stations, down 11 percentage points. A total of 139,000 square km of water did not meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water, down 17.8 percent. Of this total, seriously polluted oceanic area occupied 29,000 square km. Monitoring of 18 marine ecology zones showed that major thalassic, estuarine and wetland ecosystems were all in quasi-healthy or unhealthy conditions.

Bohai Sea Pollution in the sea remained severe. The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water came to 20,000 square km, making up 26 percent of Bohai's total acreage. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 2,000 square km, 3,000 square km, 6,000 square km and 9,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the Bohai Bay, the Laizhou Bay and coast of the Liaodong Bay, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and lead. Experts attribute Bohai's pollution mainly to the inflow of a large amount of pollutants from land and poor water cycle in the sea.

Yellow Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water totaled 43,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality accounted for 3,000 square km, 4,000 square km, 14,000 square km and 22,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Yalujiang River, the Jiaozhou Bay and coast of Jiangsu Province, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen and phosphate.

East China Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water spanned across 65,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 23,000 square km, 11,000 square km, 10,000 square km and 21,000 square km, respectively. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Yangtze River, the Hangzhou Bay and coast of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, with major pollutants being inorganic nitrogen and phosphate. Pollutants transported by the Yangtze runoff, as well as industrial and agricultural waste discharges in coastal areas, are believed to cause the pollution in the East China Sea.

South China Sea The area where water failed to meet the quality standard for clean oceanic water came to 11,000 square km. Marine areas where water quality fell into categories of severe pollution, medium pollution, less pollution and relatively good quality were 1,000 square km, 500 square km, 3,000 square km and 6,000 square km, respectively. Major pollutants were inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and lead. The most heavily polluted areas were mainly concentrated in the estuary of the Pearl River, coast of Shantou in Guangdong Province and Zhanjiang Port.

Urban Pollution Treatment

In the 523 cities covered by an air quality monitoring program, 344 cities reached air quality standard Grade II, accounting for 65.8 percent of all cities under the program; and 133 cities attained Grade III, accounting for 25.4 percent. Air quality in 46 cities was inferior to Grade III, accounting for 8.8 percent. Of the 350 cities subject to a noise monitoring program, 0.9 percent of the cities suffered serious noise pollution in downtown areas, 1.7 percent experienced medium noise pollution and 33.1 percent had light noise pollution.

The daily treatment capacity of municipal sewage reached 80.91 million cubic meters, up 9.5 percent. Municipal sewage treatment rate was 48.4 percent, up 2.8 percentage points. Areas benefiting from central heating systems amounted to 2.2 billion square meters, up 3.2 percent. Vegetation coverage rate in built-up areas reached 33 percent, up 1.4 percentage points.

With the continues development of the economy, China has progressively increased its input in environmental protection undertakings. In 2006-10, the country's investment in this regard is estimated at 1.3 trillion yuan, accounting for 1.4-1.5 percent of the national gross domestic product of the corresponding period. In light of the scientific concept of development and requirements of the building of a harmonious society, nine key environmental protection projects will be implemented in the fields of capacity building in environmental surveillance, disposal of hazardous wastes, urban sewage treatment, urban garbage disposal, desulphurization of coal power plants, construction of key state ecological function reserves, capacity building in management and protection of state nature reserves, nuclear safety and radiation safeguard, and the rural environmental protection campaign.