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State report shows poor environmental record across China

China's rapid economic growth has prevented it from meeting nearly half of its goals for environmental protection, with the level of sulphur dioxide emissions rising by 27 percent over the past five years, the government says.

China had set a target of cutting discharges of sulphur dioxide, a health threatening gas, by 10 percent from 2000 to last year. It set the same target for reducing emissions of carbon monoxide, but only managed a 2 percent cut, the State Environmental Protection Agency said in a report carried by state media yesterday.

The report, posted on the agency's Web site, cited surging energy consumption due to the economic boom, which has kept GDP growth above 9 percent.

"Some regions set more value on pursuing rapid GDP growth, sacrificing the environment and public health," the report said.

Of 20 environmental goals, eight were not achieved, including reducing discharges of carbon dioxide and industrial solid waste and expanding the proportion of waste water treatment, it said.

The targets were based on the assumption that China's energy consumption last year would be 1.36 billion tonnes of standard coal -- a common measure for energy use.

Actual consumption last year was 2.0 billion tonnes, the report said.

Coal-fired power plants are China's biggest source of sulphur-dioxide emissions. Installed capacity for such plants reached 500 megawatts last year, 25 percent above the original expected 400 megawatts of capacity, it said.

The report also cited limited progress in projects aimed at boosting waste water treatment along the Huai River and other severely polluted bodies of water.

Of 256 projects, only 54 percent were on target. Poor maintenance and antiquated equipment at ageing factories were increasingly causing environmental accidents, it noted.
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