China to continue effort in pollution, emission control: State Council

BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The government and enterprises should continue to step up efforts in pollution and emission control to ensure targets set previously are met, according to a meeting of the State Council.

The government should "slack no efforts" to cut pollutants and emissions to meet the targets as the situation remains "grave", according to a statement issued Wednesday after the councils' executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

The government set the goal to cut emissions of major pollutants, sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 10 percent from 2006 to 2010, the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

According to the meeting, the central task at present is to ensure pollution treatment facilities run normally.

Vigorous efforts should be made to cut pollution from sectors including thermal power, iron and steel, non-ferrous metal, cement, paper making making, chemical, brewing and printing and dyeing, it said.

The statement said the toughest standards should be applied in the management of water resources to ensure safe drinking water for people.

Emissions of sulfur dioxide in China dropped 10.4 percent last year compared with that of 2008, Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian said Monday.

Zhou said the country's COD and emissions of sulfur dioxide fell for four consecutive years after the targets were set at the beginning of 2006.c

Hello Everyone,
Last night I found the above article from Beijing which discusses the pollution that China is currently facing. As I read the article the word "grave" really struck me for the following reasons:

Effects of Sulfar Dioxide include:

• Breathing problems with asthmatic children and adults (especially individuals that are active)
• Short term effects: wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath
• Long term effects: respiratory illness, alterations in the lungs' defenses and aggravation of existing cardiovascular disease
• Can cause acid rain which negatively effects soil, lakes and streams, buildings, etc.

This type of pollution typically originates from coal and oil burning. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is also mentioned in this article. COD is a result of factories contaminating the water. I also believe that this has resulted from poor infrastructure and the lack of a proper sewage system in various regions in China.

What made this article especially interesting to me was the fact that it was written by the Chinese government. It repeatedly mentions that the government should take steps to reduce pollution; however, it never mentions a possible solution or the current strategies that are being implemented. It was extremely vague to me.

I also wondered about companies that would be interested in entering China to help reduce their pollution issues, and how long it would take to make a significant difference. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?