BEIJING: A slew of ministry-level departments, including those responsible for the environment, earthquake warnings, coal mines and industries, have responded recently to matters of public concern. China will roll out comprehensive plans to improve the Yangtze River environment, including antipollution campaigns and expected breakthroughs in the green development of key industries, in addition to the conservation and restoration of the river basin, officials said. As China has prioritized the restoration of the environment along the country’s longest waterway and its upper reaches, the entire river has seen a significant improvement in water quality during the past five years, officials said at a news conference on Jan 5. The country categorizes surface water quality in five grades, ranging from Grade I, the highest, to Grade V, the worst level. Last year, no samples taken in the Yangtze River Basin were lower than Grade V, Luo Guosan, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, said. In 2016, samples rated as Grade V or lower in the river basin accounted for 3.5 percent of the total. The number fell to 0.6 percent in 2019, Luo said. Meanwhile, the proportion of samples with relatively good quality (at or above Grade III) rose to 96.3 percent as of November, compared with 82.3 percent in 2016, Luo added.
In June, several areas will complete construction of an earthquake early-warning system that will provide information within seconds of a temblor occurring. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster in North China, plus the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, will take the lead in establishing their early-warning systems, the China Earthquake Administration said on Friday.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
