The environment chief has pledged all-out efforts to curb water pollution on the mainland as time is running out for the nation to meet the target levels set for 2010.
Zhou Shengxian , head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said the mainland had cut water pollutants by only 2.3 per cent so far, a far cry from the target of a 10 per cent reduction set in 2006.
While it faced an uphill battle in the fight against water pollution, Mr Zhou said the various measures enacted had resulted in an improvement of water quality last year.
This was reflected by the increase in the amount of drinkable water in seven major rivers, including the Yangtze and the Yellow River, by seven percentage points year on year to 50 per cent last year, he said.
Acknowledging the difficulty of achieving the reduction target, he called for the establishment of a high-level co-ordination mechanism to tackle the problem of upstream and downstream water quality.
While sewage treatment plants should be further developed, authorities at all levels should also increase investment in anti-pollution projects as well as develop new technology to reduce pollution, he said.
