China's coastal waters became cleaner in general last year, but the
sea pollution of some industrialized and densely-populated areas
such as Shanghai and Zhejiang remained serious, according to a new
environmental report released Thursday.
The State
Environment Protection Administration report on the quality of
the coastal environment of China in 2002 found the ratio of
class-one and class-two waters, which stand for good quality,
reached 49.7 percent, a rise of 8.3 percentage points over that of
2001. Heavily-polluted waters accounted for 35.9 percent of the
total, dropping 10.5 percentage points.
The report cited Shanghai and Zhejiang Province, powerhouses of
China's rapid economic growth, as having the most serious sea
pollution among 11 coastal provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities.
The East China Sea, which Shanghai and Zhejiang face, was the most
heavily-polluted sea among four Chinese seas.
Shandong Province, which faces the Yellow Sea, and Guangxi and
Hainan facing the South China Sea, had cleaner waters since the
ratio of class-one and class-two waters were between 70 and 78
percent, said the report.
Major pollutants were inorganic nitrogen and phosphate, as well as
oil and heavy metals including lead and cadmium. But average
concentration of those pollutants decreased from the 2001 level in
varying degrees.
Offshore fishery in China suffered economic losses amounting to at
least 232 million yuan (US$28 million) due the sea pollution last
year.
The report said four oil spills occurred last year, but the impact
on the sea environment was reduced to the lowest level thanks to
emergency measures to clean the oil.
(People's Daily March 7, 2003)