bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Some Chinese regions near key waterways the Yangtze and Yellow rivers are “seriously lagging” state water quality standards despite big improvements overall this year, the environment ministry said.
China divides its water resources into six grades, with the top three considered safe for human use, and the lowest, “below grade V”, unfit even for industrial or irrigation purposes.
Some 75.4 per cent of China’s water was judged to be in the top three grades in the first 10 months of this year, up 2.3 percentage points from a year earlier, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said late on Wednesday.
Just 3.2 per cent was found to be “below grade V”, down 1.9 percentage points.

 
However, “some regions were seriously lagging in their water environment targets”, the ministry said.
Parts of the Yangtze River and Bohai Bay, near the industrial region of Tianjin, needed to work harder to eliminate water “below grade V”, it added.
Chinese court jails nine for dumping toxic waste in Yangtze
The Yellow River also required “urgent” pollution treatment work on its middle and lower reaches.
China’s per capita water resources are around a quarter of the global average, and with demand still rising, it is trying to remediate contaminated water sources and improve efficiency.

 
It is in the middle of a wide-reaching programme to clean up the Yangtze, its biggest river, and put an end to major development along its banks.


Why South Korea has become a favourite destination for Chinese tourists this Lunar New Year holiday

China’s box office presales fall over 60% from last year in crucial Lunar New Year window

Social media’s ‘becoming Chinese’ trend can only be a force for good

‘Only a 0.1% chance’: elderly Chinese look for love at Shenzhen’s matchmaking corner

China society

China says some regions ‘seriously below water quality targets’ amid push to clean up major rivers

Areas around the Yellow River are among those that have been told to improve. Photo: Reuters

China’s ocean waste dumping at highest level in at least a decade, with 27 per cent surge in 2018

A scrap collector sorts plastic waste at a garbage dump in Shanghai. China’s coastal waters have seen a surge in waste, with plastic making up more than 80 per cent of floating rubbish. Photo: AFP

In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010, Chinese workers pick up waste swept by flood waters near the Three Gorges Dam at the Yangtze River in Yichang in China's Hubei province. Intense flooding has swept thick layers of garbage down the Yangtze River that are threatening to block the gates of the Three Gorges Dam, state media reported Monday. "The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam," dam official Chen Lei told the official China Daily in an interview, referring to the dam's huge shipping locks. (AP Photo) **CHINA OUT**

China needs to divert more water to north to fight risk of drought, says premier

A cement plant on the banks of the Yangtze in Chongqing. The authorities are now trying to stop further development along the river. Photo: Reuters

(191115) -- NANCHANG, Nov. 15, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, learns about the job in fighting drought at a reservoir in Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, Nov. 14, 2019. Li made an inspection tour in the cities of Jingdezhen and Nanchang in Jiangxi Province from Thursday to Friday. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

News

China

People & Culture


Yangtze and Yellow rivers require action to cut pollution, ministry finds
But 75 per cent of China’s water is now judged safe for human use, while only 3 per cent is rated unfit even for industrial use



The Yangtze and Yellow rivers require action to cut pollution, the environment ministry finds.


China pollution