Zhejiang embraces green development

　　Many local governments have increased their efforts against water pollution after a national action plan was issued on April 16. Zhejiang province stands as an example of the effectiveness of such efforts. Zheng Jinran reports in Hangzhou.

　　Pujiang county in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, was famous for its crystal glassware, which during its prime accounted for 85 percent of the nationwide output and brought huge wealth to the residents. But this industry also brought severe water pollution.

“The rivers looked like milk and were not drinkable,” said Zhu Yuewen, a 74yearold who has lived all of his life in the southern county.

More than 22,000 small processingmills used water to wash away dust in the polishing process. Wastewater containing the white particles of dust flowed into the rivers and turned themwhite.

The rivers, which residents used as a source of drinking water and for household chores, became pollutedwhen the mills first appeared in 1982, Zhu said. Residents found the deteriorating water quality, noise from the mills and the dust in the air unbearable.

When the county government surveyed river pollution in 2013, it found 462 “milky” rivers, 577 others filled with garbage and 25 with highly polluted and foulsmelling black water. Pujiang county was ranked lowest in terms of environmental quality among the 90 counties of the province.

Last year, however, all of the pollution disappeared, and the rivers became clean again. The major river — Hujiang River — and the major lake —Cuihu Lake — are now good for swimming, attracting more than 6,000 residents a day in the summer, according to the county government.

“The improvement came from strict comprehensive efforts to reduce water pollutants, especially the efficient measures to shut down the polluting crystal mills,” said Shi Zhenqiang, the county’s Party chief.

Most of the mills closed down were cottage industries that did not have the facilities to deal with their industrial waste and simply discharged wastewater into the nearest river, he said.

It was not easy to shut down thesemills,becausemanypeople’s livelihoods depended on them. The county government tried twice before, in 2006 and 2011, but had to back down in the face of opposition from the mill owners. It compromised to maintain a stable social order, Shi said.

“But this time, the deteriorating environment pushed us to control the pollution for the sake of public health and sustainable economic growth,” he said.

In 2013, the county government’s various departments took joint action to phase out the polluting mills in accordance with laws and regulations.

The environmental protection department locatedmills discharging untreated wastewater during the night. The land resources authority later removed illegal buildings, while the commerce administration fined companies without business licenses.

Those combined efforts reduced the 22,000 mills to just 1,376 by last year. The remaining factories will move to industrial zones in the fall, where theirwastewaterwill be processed centrally.

Zhu said his son used to polish crystal products in their house but will move his business to the new industrial zones.

10 percent of rivers in China have been severely contaminated and can no longer be used for irrigation or recreation.

55 percent of waterpolluting factories were shut down in Pujiang county for the sake of public health and sustainable economic growth.

Other polluting companies in the papermaking, printing and dyeing, and chemical industries have been regulated as well, with 55 percent of factories being shut down, the county government said.

“GDP gains at the price of destroying the environment is not welcome in our county,”Shi said. “Wewould rather not pursue such economic growth.”

Despite the large scale of such restrictions on polluting industries, Pujiang did not see a decline in its economy, but faster growth instead. Urban residents’ per capita income has seen a yearonyear increase of 9.4percent, exceeding 23,100 yuan ($3,720) last year, because of an optimized industrial structure, the county government said.

E-commerce was one reason for the booming economy in the county. The number of parcels delivered across the border reached 10 million last year, making Pujiang one of the top two counties for e-commerce in the province.

The remarkable achievements in reducing water pollution from industry in the county have made it an example for others in the province to follow, said Xu Zhen, head of Zhejiang province’s Environmental Protection Department.

Greener villages

Chai Tingxia, a 55yearold resident of Qixi township,Jiande city, started fish farming in the Lianhuahu Reservoir in 1998, with an annual output of more than 5,000 kilograms.

In 2008, she built more farmhouses to cater to the flood of tourists from urban areas. The output from fish farming and providing tourist accommodations now brings her more than 200,000 yuan annually.

When she became the first one to clean up all the fish net boxes in 2013, the other 25 fish farmers followed suit.The largescale

pond farming had seriously polluted the reservoir, which is the source of the Qiantang River, the mother river of Zhejiang province.

The time has come to reduce fish feeding in order to reduce the eutrophication — the creation of an algal bloom on the surface of the reservoir— said Wu Genliang, head of Qixi township.

The township government has issued preferential policies to encourage the 26 fish farmers to join the tourism industry and abandon casting feed into the water in favor of letting the fish grow in clear water without artificial feeding. Older villagers were given other jobs in the township to guarantee their incomes.

In Jiande, farming is the mainstay of the economy,especially chicken farming.Eggs produced in Jiande account for onethird of the tota lproduced in the province.

In Lianhua township, the waste from the farms was around 400metric tons a year, the equivalent of the daily waste froma city with a population of 800,000.

Tight controls have been placed on farms raising chickens,cows and hogs to reduce land and water pollution.Around 2,500 farms in the new farmingrestriction zones have been closed.

Jiande has built modern facilities to process the waste into energy or other nonpolluting resources, and it reached a utilization rate of 97percent last year.

The high utilization rate of farm waste is also required in the newly released water pollution control action plan,which stipulated that by 2016,the new and reconstructed farms should be equipped with central processing facilities.

Increasing efforts

Excessive emissions from industrial andagriculturalproduction and households have decreased the water quality in China. Around 10 percent of rivers have been severely contaminated and can no longer be used for irrigation or recreation,according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

In response, the central government released the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution onApril 16.Under the plan,water quality nationwidewill be dramatically improved and heavily polluted water reduced to less than10percent of the total amount ofwater by 2020.

Zhejiang has led the way in improving water quality and controlling water pollution through the efforts of the past two years, said Xu, the environmental official.

Last year, about 4,660 kilometers of black, foulsmelling rivers had been cleaned up,and surface river water with better than Level 3 quality accounted for 63.8 percent of the total, 2.7percentagepoints up from2010, the department said.

That is a good level in the eastern coastal region with its advanced industrial production and stronger economy,according to the department.

Last year, the province invested more than 80 billion yuan in water pollution control campaigns, and that will be increased to 140 billion yuan by 2017.

Xu, speaking at the TransCentury Tour of Chinese Environmental Protection, an interviewing event organized by the Environment and Resources Committee of the National People’s Congress in lateApril, said, “Wewill continue to push forward the effective efforts to reduce water pollutants and reach the goals of the national action plan.”

Contact the writer at zhengjinran@chinadaily.com.cn

Residents of Jiande, Zhejiang province, wash vegetables with water from local rivers and reservoirs, the quality of which improved greatly after the local government closed waterpolluting factories. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY