China expects 'turning point' in pollution this year

China should see a “turning point” this year in its pollution problems and will likely meet its clean air and water goals in coming years, an environmental official said today.

Zhang Lijun, vice minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said that while the amount of ammonia and nitrates in waterways increased in 2006 and overall air quality declined, protection measures such as pollution control facilities and stepped-up enforcement would have an impact.

“It is true that last year the total pollutants discharged was still rising,” Zhang said. But he pointed out that the increase in the amount of pollutants in 2006 was smaller than the increase in the previous year.

“I’m confident that in this year, the total pollutants discharged will come to a turning point,” Zhang said, adding he expected a decrease in the amount of pollutants discharged, although he did not provide a specific figure.

China has some of the world’s most polluted cities after more than two decades of high-speed economic growth, and the government has been losing ground in recent years in trying to balance environmental concerns with economic growth.

While the country’s Communist leaders have repeatedly promised a clean-up, they say they are constrained by a desire to promote economic growth and by a lack of technology.

Last month, Zhang’s agency reported that China’s environmental situation was deteriorating, with several major rivers and lakes clogged by industrial waste.

In February, it said China had failed to reach any of its pollution control goals for 2006 as the economy picked up speed.

The reduction goals last year were part of an eight-step plan to cut emission of major pollutants by 10% in the five-year period ending in 2010, but Zhang said he was “confident” the targets would still be met.