Problems Still Big in China's Environment ProtectionLatest statistics from the State Environment Protection Administration indicate that 86% industrial polluters in China have met the State environmental standards by the end of May. Meanwhile, against these is only a 74.8% of key polluters, or over 70% of national industrial pollution, that have met the standards set by the state.A central task demanded by China's environment protection during the 9th Five-year Plan period is that industrial polluters discharge and city environment must be put under complete control and that all industrial polluters in China must meet the said standards before December 31 this year. It is reported there are altogether 238,096 industrial polluters in China, of which 204,710 have met the state environmental standards; over 30,000 are run as failures; and 6,105 are known to have no measures taken to curb pollution, showing a decrease of 1,173 over April. About 13,400 enterprises out of 18,000 key polluters have met state requirements set. There still remain 407 having no measures taken to curb pollution and these are mainly concentrated in the fields of construction materials (cement especially), chemical and metallurgical industry, coal, electric power and papermaking. In terms of geographical location, they are mainly in western China, with Yunnan, Shanxi, Guangxi and Sichuan taking first top four. What's more, of key industrial polluters, 180 are run as enterprises directly under the administration of central authorities. Among these are included 112 designated as key enterprises by the State Economic and Trade Commission, leaving only 99, or 55%, that have been up standards set by the state in putting pollution under complete control. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |