Guangdong Province topped the country in the discharge of wastewater last year, accounting for about 17 percent of the nation's total, Huang Baiqing, director of the provincial water conservancy department, said on Wednesday.

He said the province emitted 12.49 billion tons of wastewater last year, five times as much as in 1980.

Also, almost 25 percent of the more than 7,000 km of river water tested last year in the province was below Class III, making it officially of poor quality.

(China Daily October 24, 2008)