Published January 28, 2010 06:01 AM
China's pollution situation still serious
China still faces a serious threat from pollution despite recent
government efforts to clean up, the Cabinet said on Wednesday, adding
the country would step up investment in environmentally friendly
industries.
While noting some progress at closing outdated factories, cleaning up
dirty rivers and increasing access to clean drinking water, the State
Council, or Cabinet, warned against any resting on laurels during a
regular meeting.
"Though our country's environmental protection work has achieved
positive results, generally the pollution of the environment has yet to
be controlled," according to a statement posted on the government's
website (www.gov.cn) about the meeting, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.
"Supervision and management abilities over the environment remain
lagging, and the situation is still severe," it added.
We must "increase investment in and forcefully develop
environmentally-friendly industries, as well as strengthen the ability
to protect the environment," the statement said.
More than 30 years of breakneck economic growth have had an appalling
affect on China's environment, with rivers blackened and blankets of
smog smothering many cities.
The government has pledged to do more to tackle pollution -- a cause of violent protests in some parts of China -- by closing factories and mines and investing in green technology, but admits it faces a hard and long fight.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jerry Norton)
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