August 31, 2015
...China published a water pollution prevention action plan in April, (click here) promising to improve water supplies in the world's most populous country and second largest economy after years of heavy pollution caused by industrial development.
One-third of major Chinese river basins and 60 per cent of its underground water is contaminated....
...The new action plan aims to ban water-polluting paper mills, oil refineries, pesticide producers and other industrial plants by the end of 2016 in a bid to better protect China's scarce water supplies.
China has already blocked the approval of 163 state-level projects during the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015), said Chen Jining, Minister for Environmental Protection.
But many companies ignore environmental impact assessments or find ways around environmental requirements, he said. Around 30,000 companies illegally constructed projects during the first half of the year, according to a nationwide MEP survey.
Enforcement of environmental rules has long been a problem in China, where state-owned enterprises routinely pay negligible fines instead of meeting regulations.
Local governments are often more focussed on growth and generating tax income than environmental protection, said Chen.
...China published a water pollution prevention action plan in April, (click here) promising to improve water supplies in the world's most populous country and second largest economy after years of heavy pollution caused by industrial development.
One-third of major Chinese river basins and 60 per cent of its underground water is contaminated....
...The new action plan aims to ban water-polluting paper mills, oil refineries, pesticide producers and other industrial plants by the end of 2016 in a bid to better protect China's scarce water supplies.
China has already blocked the approval of 163 state-level projects during the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015), said Chen Jining, Minister for Environmental Protection.
But many companies ignore environmental impact assessments or find ways around environmental requirements, he said. Around 30,000 companies illegally constructed projects during the first half of the year, according to a nationwide MEP survey.
Enforcement of environmental rules has long been a problem in China, where state-owned enterprises routinely pay negligible fines instead of meeting regulations.
Local governments are often more focussed on growth and generating tax income than environmental protection, said Chen.
