Chinese gov't invests heavily in combating land pollution

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-01-04

A worker in Enshi in China's central Hubei province uses a turner to mix in
 powdered tobacco plants and other materials for compost at a bio-organic
fertilizer plant, Oct. 28.(Photo/Xinhua)

China's rapid economic development over past years has strained its environmental capacity, as evidenced by a national land survey showing medium or heavy pollution in 50 million acres of arable land, which threatens the nation's grain supply and food safety.

The figure was contained in the findings of the second national land survey, put forth by Wang Shiyuan, vice minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, on Dec. 30.

In 2011 Zhou Shengxian, minister of environmental protection, had already reported at a meeting of the standing committee of the 11th National People's Congress that 150 million acres of arable land, or 8.3% of the total, had been polluted.

To prevent further deterioration of the problem, the State Council is aiming to clarify land status and establish a strict environmental protection system for land by 2015.

To clarify land status, the Chinese government is conducting a comprehensive examination of the pollution of land by heavy metals, as a prelude for the production of a national land pollution map.

In contrast to the extensive awareness of water and air pollution among Chinese people, many people are ill informed about land pollution, according to the Chinese-language National Business Daily.

Three major sources of land pollutants are industrial and mining emissions, abuse in the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, and illegal disposal of waste.

Land pollution, for all its obscurity, is a long-term problem which is not easily rectified, and which could have grave consequences threatening the nation's grain and food safety, according to Qian Guanlin, vice director of the Population, Resources, and Environmental Committee, under the National Political Consultative Conference.

In a report published in 2013, the Ministry of Environmental Protection noted that China's land pollution is discouraging, pointing to serious land pollution in areas with many heavy-polluting enterprises, areas with industrial clustering, mining and outlying areas.

Qian Guanlin said that resolving land pollution is a formidable task, involving the resettlement of workers when moving polluting enterprises and compensation for the economic loss of farmers and for the damage to people's health, adding that if this is not delicately handled it risks disturbing the balance of social harmony and stability.

Wang Shiyuan reported that the Chinese government will spend several tens of billions of yuan annually rehabilitating polluted land and coping with excess groundwater consumption in the coming years.