Sewage has become one of the biggest threats to China's marine environment, as less than half of the wastewater pumped into the sea is treated, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme.

Results from the country's 200 coastal monitoring stations indicated that more than 317 billion tons of wastewater, both treated and untreated, were discharged from the mainland in 2005, almost twice as much as in 2000.

The report was released at the second intergovernmental review meeting of the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities yesterday in Beijing.

China has promised to treat about 70 per cent of its urban wastewater in the next five years. It will also try to decrease pollutants by 10 per cent. There are currently 145 wastewater treatment plants under construction in coastal areas.

"Protection of the marine environment depends on control of pollution from land-based activities," said Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration.

"As a country with rich marine resources, marine and coastal development plays an important role in the country's economic growth. "

"But pollution control in and along China's rivers and seas is still under great pressure. Pollution is still very serious at the mouths of major rivers and in some bays," Zhou said.

Measures to clean up the environment will focus on the Bohai Bay, the Yangtze River estuary and the lower reaches of the Pearl River delta, he said.

Source: China Daily