China is optimistic that it will win its battle against pollution with the guidance of President Xi Jinping on ecological civilization, the Minister for Ecology and Environment Li Ganjie told journalists on Monday.
Speaking on the side-lines of the second session of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People’s Congress (NPC), Mr Li vowed that the government will continue to strengthen pollution prevention and control this year.
“This year we shall remain in the right direction with determination and perseverance, and boosting both high quality economic development and high calibre eco-environment protection, steadily move forward with holistic thinking and multi-pronged strategies,” said Minister Li.
“After two years, 99.9 percent of almost 1,474 sources of drinking water in cities above the county level that is along the Yangtze River Economic Belt have their problems salvaged. China has made big strides in the fight against pollution,” he added.
He added that China will be reducing use of some key pollutants like ammonia, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen by 3.1 percent.
According to the ministry’s report, China’s cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei region witnessed 1.3 percent increase of good air quality giving it an average concentration of PM2.5.
The minister said that they have tightened supervision and law enforcement has gone a notch higher for the purpose of eco-environment protection.
“We cannot go for high quality economic development with a polluted environment and as a result we have tightened our laws to have pollution free nation. In 2018, 186,000 cases of administrative penalty on negligence and procrastination were recorded,” said Mr Li, adding that the government will not relent in its effort to curb pollution.
He urged local environmental bureaus to help companies set pollution treatment solution plans adding that the government issued waste discharge permits to over 39,000 enterprises in 18 industries.
Mr Li reiterated that China is fighting to secure its goal of becoming fairly prosperous nation in all aspects by next year, noting that clean energy has been widely promoted across the country and that the restoration of river and lake ecosystems is underway.
“With the guidance of President Xi, the country used US $38.1 billion in the fight against pollution and over time he has underscored that we cannot jeopardise the fight against pollution at the expense of economic growth,” he added.
The 2018 World Air Quality Report compiled by Greenpeace and IQAir AirVisual and which was released recently indicates that as the need to reduce air pollution has become more pressing in some countries, extensive monitoring networks and air pollution reduction policies have been put into place.
According to the report, cities in China dominated top 30 despite average concentration in Chinese cities falling by 12 percent from 2017 to 2018 while Delhi in India remains the dirtiest city in the world.
Beijing is now ranked as the 122nd most polluted city in the World.
Air pollution is estimated to contribute to 70 million premature deaths every year and is considered by the United Nations as the single biggest environmental health risk.