Emissions of sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD), two major indicators of pollution, fell 5.6 percent and 5.3 percent respectively last year in Guangdong, the provincial environmental regulator said yesterday.

Due to the province's intensified efforts in recent years to reduce pollution, sulfur dioxide and COD emissions dropped to 67,100 tons and 53,700 tons last year, the Guangdong environmental protection bureau said.

"It's all thanks to the province's efforts to cut pollution in major industrial projects and relocate a number of big energy-consuming plants," said Zhou Yongzhang, director of the environment research center of Sun Yat-sen University in the city.

In recent years, several big industrial plants, particularly those situated along the banks of the Pearl River, have been relocated, he said.

With the reduction, Guangdong has achieved its target set last year to cut COD and sulfur dioxide discharges by 4.5 percent and 5 percent, the bureau said.

A typical indicator used to measure water pollution, COD is defined as the quantity of oxygen required to decompose all organic matter, while sulfur dioxide is one of the major air pollutants.

In 2006, nine provinces and regions had signed a commitment with the country's top environmental watchdog to reduce water pollution by 10 percent by 2010.

Under the commitment, Guangdong province was required to reduce its COD emission to 940,000 tons by 2010, a 12 percent reduction from 2005.

"The rather huge drop in emissions of sulfur dioxide and COD is of great significance to the province's economic development," Zhou said.

"As the largest province in terms of GDP in the country, Guangdong will most likely see environment-friendly economic development, thanks to the intensified efforts to curb pollution," he said.

Days when the air is filled with dust and haze dropped by 16 to 53 percent in most Pearl River Delta cities in the province, Li Qing, director of the Guangdong provincial environmental protection bureau, said.

Guangdong has also become the first province in the country to develop a daily sewage treatment capacity of more than 10 million tons, the bureau said.

(China Daily February 12, 2009)