Shanghai To Allocate 15 Billion Yuan for Water ProtectionChina's largest economic and financial center, Shanghai, is to allocate 15 billion yuan (about 180 million U.S. dollars) within three years, for water source protection and waste water treatment, official sources said.Xu Zuxin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Environment Protection Bureau, said that the China financial center will use the money to protect the water source for people's daily use in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River running through the city, and also to deal with industrial waste water. Among several sources of pollution in the Huangpu River, 42 percent is from sewage, 40 percent is from agriculture, and 18 percent is from industry. To ensure water quality, the municipal government will set up waste water treatment works, and limit the use of fertilizers. Xu said that in the last few years, the municipality has invested an average of more than 10 billion yuan every year, three percent of its gross domestic product, to deal with gas discharges and solid waste treatment and to have more green vegetation. Thanks to continuous efforts during the last three decades, 93 percent of the city's industrial waste water has been treated before flowing into the river. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |