China has reportedly launched nearly 8,000 water clean-up projects in the first half of 2017 with projected total investment of 667.4 billion yuan ($100 billion), its environment ministry said.
Although some regions are still behind schedule, China is still working to meet its 2017 pollution goals. Over 80% of the nation’s companies have started using clean production methods to help prevent future water pollution, and according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, China has covered 343 contaminated water sites across the country.
Large amounts of China’s water have been rendered unusable as a result of poorly regulated industrial expansion, overmining and the uncontrolled use of pesticides and fertilisers. In order to ensure future food and energy production, China is desperate to increase the quality of their major waterways and clean up pollution from industrial areas.
China grades its water in six bands, with the lowest “below grade 5” considered unusable even for industrial or irrigation purposes and described as “black and stinky” water.
Of 2,100 “black and stinky” sites identified, 44.1 percent had completed treatment projects in the first half of the year, the ministry said, noting that the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning a
nd Anhui had fallen behind.In a bid to protect rural water supplies, China also identified 636,000 square kilometers (246,000 square miles) of land that would be made off limits to animal husbandry, and it shut 213,000 livestock and poultry farms in the first six months.
The ministry also said 809 new household sewage treatment facilities were built in the first half.
Earlier this month, China exceeded its 2020 target for solar installations, cementing its position as the biggest producer of solar energy in the world. The country has previously demonstrated its ability to power an entire region with 100 percent renewable energy for a whole week.
China said on Wednesday that it has already appointed 200,000 “river chiefs” throughout the country as part of a new system aimed at making local officials more accountable when it comes to improving water quality and curbing pollution.
