Pollution in China - an Overview

Pollution in China -- An Overview

China has serious pollution problems, which it recognizes and which it is determined to remedy.

Urban areas suffer from a growing number of vehicles, many of them with inadequate exhaust controls. These same areas are often the home to a multitude of factories without proper effluent management and during the winter are polluted by household burning of coal and other inefficient fuels.
China's rivers and lakes are polluted by improperly treated industrial, agricultural and urban waste.
Industries in certain sectors are far more likely to be sources of pollution than others.

In the face of these problems China has developed comprehensive laws on pollution and has developed a strategy for giving priority to the most serious of the problems. China's strategy includes the identification of 10 cities, three rivers, three lakes and five industrial sectors for special priority. For a summary of China's policy, including its strategy prioritizing certain geographical areas and sectors, see CP Policy - http://www.chinacp.com/eng/cp_policy.html . For more background and details about how CP will be implemented in China, see Cleaner Production Knowledge Series Overview. - http://www.chinacp.com/eng/cptools/cpt_book00.htm .

For a Chinese language site which focuses on assisting Chinese industry to implement cleaner production: http://www.chinacp.com/newcn/

On June 29, 2002, the National People's Congress approved new and comprehensive cleaner production legislation, the Cleaner Production Promotion Law. This new law is the most significant of a number of initiatives the Chinese government has taken to establish Cleaner Production nationwide as one of China's key strategies for sustainable development. It is unprecedented, being the first national law in the world to establish Cleaner Production as a national policy, and to lay out a strategy for its promotion and implementation. This law became effective in January 1, 2003.