China’s environment problems serious: Minister

SHANGHAI (AFP) — China’s environmental problems remain serious with local governments not putting enough pressure on businesses to control pollution, the nation’s environment protection minister has said.

Efforts to toughen environment laws have not done enough to fix the widespread problems for China’s air, lakes and rivers, Zhang Lijun said on Tuesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

"The general situation of environmental pollution does not allow us to be optimistic," Zhang was quoted telling a national meeting on pollution control in Shanghai.

Zhang’s ministry replaced the environmental protection agency last year with greater powers, but enforcement still depends largely on local officials.

Water, air pollution in China still serious

SHANGHAI – Lakes, rivers and the air in many places in China are still polluted, some seriously, in spite of continuous efforts to control pollution, a Chinese environmental official said Tuesday.

An elderly fisherman looks out from his boat on Taihu lake, China’s third-largest lake, where a pollution-linked algae bloom has reappeared in Huzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province. [Agencies]

Zhang Lijun, deputy minister of environmental protection, said environmental protection departments across the country should press enterprises harder on pollution control.

"The general situation of environmental pollution does not allow us to be optimistic," Zhang told a national meeting on pollution control in Shanghai.