A December 2000 report from U.S. Consulate General Guangzhou
Summary: Although Guangdong Province has made some progress in limiting its air and noise pollution in recent years, pollution problems, especially water pollution, are still serious. The province has implemented a series of programs to upgrade its general environmental situation, but it still has to catch up for years of environmental neglect.
Water Pollution: Management Still Tough
Last October, Governor Lu Ruihua admitted that Guangdong¡¯s water quality problem is still basically ¡°unsolved.¡± Despite the efforts and the achievements made in recent years, Guangdong Province, especially the comparatively more affluent Pearl River Delta, is still confronted with a critical water shortage owing to poor water quality. In 1999, 5.92 billion tons of wastes went into seas, rivers and lakes in the province, and water networks in the Pearl River Delta alone received around 2.97 billion tons of effluents. Urban non-industrial sewage (such as household waste water) has played a significant role in contaminating the water. River water pollution somewhat worsened in 1999 over 1998; only 36.8 percent of 19 regional rivers flowing through cities have reached central government water quality standards. Only four of 21 cities meet potable water quality standards (bacteria count, turbidity); the worst offenders are Guangzhou, Jieyang, Shenzhen, and Zhanjiang.
The proportion of non-industrial sewage to the total amount of waste water has soared from 1980¡¯s 24 percent to the current 73 percent. Every day, 8.6 million tons of household waste water flows into rivers and lakes in Guangdong, and the province¡¯s capital city Guangzhou alone produces two million tons of such effluent. But the province is only able to treat 1.85 million tons of non-industrial waste water each day (about 21 percent of the total). Compared with Shanghai¡¯s 62 percent, Jiangsu Province¡¯s 42 percent and Zhejiang Province¡¯s 30 percent of waste water treatment, Guangdong is lagging behind other economically advanced provinces and cities in China.
A local newspaper recently pointed out that by the end of 1999, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Foshan were the only cities in the province to have constructed urban wastewater treatment facilities (27 in all). But most of the province still has no treatment plants. Fund-raising is a tough problem for environmental infrastructure construction, as environmental protection investment has not yet been listed as an independent item in the national or provincial budgets. In addition, some of the existing plants¡¯s ; difficulties in getting enough funds for their continuing operation have also given pause to potential investors about pouring money into similar projects.
Administrative issues also influence the construction and operation of non-industrial waste water treatment plants. Urban water supply, sewage discharge and waste water treatment fall into different organizations¡¯ bailiwicks, thus complicating management. Although the province had planned to achieve a 40 percent wastewater treatment rate at the end of its Ninth Five Year Plan period (December 31, 2000), last year it had to postpone the deadline to 2002 for the Pearl River Delta and to 2005 for the whole province.
The Guangdong provincial government launched a "Green Water Project" in mid-1997 in an attempt to control pollution of rivers and improve drinking water quality. The program contained six major projects and 115 sub-projects which required an approximate investment of RMB 20 billion (US$2.4 billion). By the end of 1999, Guangdong had poured RMB 5 billion (US$600 million) in 99 out of the 115 sub-projects. In 1998 and 1999, it had also shut down 660 pollutant-discharging enterprises or compelled them to shift to less polluting operations and had moved 357 such enterprises to places where they would have less impact on the environment. By the end of May 2000, 89.39 percent of the pollutant-emitting industrial enterprises in the province had managed to control their waste emission within the required standards.
Air Pollution: Improvement Noted
Urban air quality in Guangdong Province has been improving. The content of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, suspended particles and falling dust in the air dropped in 1999. However, except for Yangjiang, Maoming, Heyuan and Meizhou cities, the rest of the 17 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong are all located in the "Acid Rain Control Area" (areas with high acid rain levels) designated by the State Council. Around 63 percent of the province ¡¯s total land area lies within the "Acid Rain Control Area". As much as 90 percent of the rain falling in Guangzhou is acidic.
Despite the fact that each city in the province imposes controls on automobile emissions, increasing numbers of vehicles have aggravated the problem of automobile exhaust. The sale of leaded gasoline has been banned in the province's major cities, while 740 cement factories and other heavy polluters were ordered closed down last year. Last May, the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People¡¯s Congress passed regulations to forbid the sale of automobiles and automobile engines whose emissions exceed the provincial standard. However, the legacy of past neglect is still very much apparent: a recent survey of 12,000 5-7 year-olds in Guangzhou showed that 83 percent have elevated lead levels in their blood.
Guangdong¡¯s air pollution is also aggravated by the fact that its power plants use high sulfur-content coal, and that they usually lack desulfurization equipment. Most of the power plants are in the Pearl River Delta.
The provincial government's "Blue Sky Plan" aims at controlling acid rain by controlling the emission of industrial pollutants in stages between now and 2010. The Plan will be included in the provincial government¡¯s social and economic development program. To achieve those goals, Guangdong will no longer approve the construction of coal- or oil-fired power plants whose generating capacity is lower than 125 megawatts. It will also make the utilization of hydroelectric power and natural gas a priority. The Plan will need an investment of about RMB 5.7 billion (US$685 million).
The Guangzhou municipal government has also issued similar regulations to improve the city¡¯s air quality. Starting from June 2000, all gas stations in the city were required to put additives into their diesel fuel. The diesel fuel price also was raised by RMB 0.08-0.10 per liter. Those who fail to sell unleaded gas would face a fine of RMB 10,000 (US$1,200).
The Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau has been cooperating with
the Hong Kong authorities to study the fundamental factors that impact
on the air quality in the Pearl River Delta. The two sides are also discussing
the feasibility of adopting a unified automobile diesel fuel standard so
as to reduce diesel pollution in the two areas as much as possible.
Selected Guangdong Environmental Indicators
| Indicator |
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| Overall air pollution index |
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| Average concentration (micrograms per cubic meter) of: | ¡¡ | ¡¡ |
| sulfur dioxide (SO2) |
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| nitrogen oxides (NOx) |
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| total suspended particulates (TSP) |
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| Falling dust (tons per square kilometer) |
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| Average ph of rainfall (less than 7.0 is acidic) |
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| Average urban noise level (decibels) |
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Source: Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau, 1999 Green Book
Urban Noise Pollution: Moderate Progress
In 1999, the average urban noise level in Guangdong was 55.7 decibels, lower than the 56.5 decibels in 1998. The urban road noise level went down by 1.0 decibel to 69.1 decibels in 1999. In Guangzhou, the average noise level was 54.7 decibels in 1999. (Comparative levels: Beijing 54.2; Haikou 58.1; Shanghai (daytime) and Tianjin, both 57.2) Around 470,000 people in the city are living in areas with a noise level of over 60 decibels. Roadside locations suffer from the most noise pollution.
Forbidding the use of automobile horns is a major action the government
has taken to contain urban noise pollution. By the end of 1999, all of
the 21 prefecture-level cities in the province have implemented regulations
to stop the use of horns. Some of the cities have even begun to install
sound-absorbing screens along the road.
Garbage Disposal: Some Waste is Still Untreated
In 1999, Guangdong produced nearly 27 million tons of solid waste, including 8.16 million tons of non-industrial garbage and 18.77 million tons of industrial waste. The province treated 90 percent of household garbage but only 64.5 percent of industrial solid waste last year.
Guangzhou City alone produces 4,500 tons of trash every day, and the
amount is expected to rise to 6,500 tons a day by 2005. The city plans
to gradually adopt a non-industrial garbage classification system in five
years. Non-industrial garbage will then be categorized into three types:
non-recyclable waste, recyclable waste and hazardous waste. The city government
is also considering building a garbage incineration power plant to abate
the serious trash problem. Nevertheless, the project has met with major
objections from the public, which is afraid that once the power plant is
put into operation, it will give off noxious materials harmful to the people
in the surrounding neighborhood. The city government now hopes that the
power plant would be able to start construction by the end of this year
after changing the proposed plant site five times.
Greenery Projects
Guangdong¡¯s forest coverage reached 56.8 percent by the end of 1998, but the types of trees in the province are not helpful for reducing the effects of natural disasters, especially floods. Natural disasters have inflicted an annual loss of over RMB 10 billion (US$1.2 billion) in Guangdong since the 1990s. Therefore, the provincial government has put seven greenery projects into its work agenda for the next ten years. The seven projects include the control of soil erosion and the elimination of blight in forests.
Guangdong has already developed 72 nature preserves with a total area
of 741,400 hectares. It also has 23 natural scenic spots and 38 forest
parks. By the end of 2010, the province will have 195 nature preserves,
accounting for 5.19 percent of its total land area. To protect further
the ecological environment, in mid August this year, the province launched
a campaign to investigate and punish those who have damaged forest resources.
It has sent out five inspection teams to deal with serious cases in various
localities.
Conclusion: Running Just to Catch Up
Despite some progress in recent years, Guangdong is still running just to catch up with the relatively better situation that existed before massive industrialization started in the 1970s. Indeed, the average visibility in Guangzhou of 18 km contrasts unfavorably with the 30 km of the late 1960s. Since that time, the average number of sunshine hours per year has decreased by 800. While Guangzhou is no longer one of the country¡¯s 10 most polluted cities, there is still a significant way to go before the damage from years of neglect is reversed.