Report On the State of the Environment In China
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Index

Atmospheric Environment

State

The air quality in cities in China had a overall trend of getting improved, but in 2/3 of the cities, the air quality did not reach the air quality standard for Grade II. Particulate was the main pollutant affecting the urban air quality. In some cities, the sulfur dioxide pollution was severe. Acid rain pollution in south regions was relatively serious. 90% of the cities in the acid rain control zones recorded acid rains. 

Urban air quality

In 2002, of the 343 cities and counties monitored, 116 cities recorded urban air quality reaching or better than National Air Quality Standard for Grade II, accounting for 34.1%. Among these, 11 cities including Haikou, etc., had air quality reaching Grade I standard. 120 cities had air quality reaching Grade III standard, taking 35% of the total. 107 cities had air quality worse than Grade III, accounting for 31.2%. As compared with the previous year, the number of cities with air quality reaching Grade II standard increased slightly, while the number of cities with air quality worse than Grade III decreased by 2 percent. 

The population in cities with air quality reaching the standards took only 26.3% of the total urban population accounted. The urban population exposed to the air with quality not reaching the standards took nearly 3/4 of the total urban population accounted. 

Grading of Urban Air Quality in the Country

Percentage Population under Different Air Quality

Air Pollution in Cities of Different Size

Main pollutants in the air

Particulate was the main pollutant affecting urban air quality. The particulate concentration in 63.2% of the cities exceeded the national Grade II standard. The particulate pollution in northern cities was more serious than in the southern cities in general. The cities having relatively severe particulate pollution were mainly in North China, Northwest, Northeast, Central plains, and east part of Sichuan and Chongqing.

22.4% of the cities had sulfur dioxide exceeding the standard. They were mainly located in Shanxi, Hebei, Guizhou, Sichuan, Gansu and Chongqing.

In 2002, in all cities monitored, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide reached the national Grade II standard, but its concentration in large cities was relatively high.

Sulfur dioxide pollution in the two control zones

Among 343 cities monitored, there were 64 cities in the sulfur dioxide control zones, while 117 cities were in the acid rain control zones. The number of cities in two zones with annual average SO2 concentration reaching Grade II standard accounted for 40.6% and 79.5% of the total number of
cities in the two zones, respectively. As compared with 1998, the number of cities in the SO2 control zones with SO2 concentration reaching the standard increased by 7.8 percent, but there were still nearly 60% of the cities not reaching the Grade II standard. In acid rain control zones, the number of cities with SO2 reaching the standard increased by 8.9 percent as compared with that in 1998.

Grading of Particulate Concentration in Cities

Grading \ % of cities 1998 2000  2002
Grade II (reaching the standard) % 32.1 36.9 36.8
Exceeding Grade II, % 67.9 63.1 63.2
Exceeding Grade III, % 37.7 30.3 29.8
National average (mg/m3) 0.289 0.270 0.269
Annual average of TSP under Grade II Standard (Air quality standard for general residential areas)  0.20 mg/m3
Annual average of PM10 under Grade II Standard(Air quality standard for general residential areas) 0.10 mg/m3

Grading of SO2 Concentration in Cities

Grading \ % of cities 1998 2000  2002
Grade II (reaching the standard) % 70.8 78.7 77.6
Exceeding Grade II, % 29.2 21.3 22.4
Exceeding Grade III, % 15.2 11.7 7.9
National average (mg/m3) 0.056 0.049 0.043
Annual average of SO2 under Grade II Standard (Air quality standard for general residential areas) 0.06 mg/m3

Percentage of Cities with SO2 Reaching the Standard

Standard Reaching Status of SO2 Concentration in Two Control Zones

SO2 Grading SO2 Control Zones Acid Rain Control Zones
1998 2000 2002 1998 2000 2002
Cities reaching Grade II, %(SO2≤0.06 mg/m3) 32.8 47.7 40.6 70.6 81.2 79.5
Cities reaching Grade III, %(0.06 mg/m3≤SO20.1 mg/m3) 29.7 24.6 31.3 13.7 6.3 13.7
Cities worse than Grade III, %(SO2>0.1 mg/m3) 37.5 27.7 28.1 15.7 12.5 6.8
 

Air quality status in the key cities

Among the 113 cities approved by the State Council as the key cities for air pollution prevention 
and control, there were 30 cities having the air quality reaching the standard in 2002. The air quality in 44 cities met the Grade III standard, and the air quality in 39 cities was worse than Grade III. Of the 47 key environmental protection cities, 18 had urban air quality reaching Grade II standard; 18 had urban air quality reaching Grade III; and 11 had urban air quality worse than Grade III, indicating serious air pollution..

Among the 47 key environmental protection cities, the SO2 concentration in 11 cities as Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Urumchi, Changsha, Guiyang, Lanzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, Beijing, Shenyang and Nanchang, exceeded the standard. The particulate concentration in 29 cities as Lanzhou, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Xi'an, Beijing, Urumchi, Chongqing, Changsha, Tianjin, Hohehot, and etc., exceeded the standard. 

Status of Air Pollution in 47 Key Environmental Protection Cities

 Year 1995 1998 2002
SO2 average, mg/m3 0.076 0.060 0.047
TSP/PM10 average, mg/m3 0.287 0.252 0.110
NOx/NO2 average, mg/m3 0.051 0.051 0.037
Cities with SO2 exceeding the standard, % 48.9 36.2 23.4
Cities with particulate exceeding the standard, % 72.3 63.8 61.7
Cities with air quality reaching the standard, % 21.3 27.7 38.3

                 ① Average PM10 in 2002; ② Average NO2 in 2002.

Integrated Pollution Index in the Key Environmental Protection Cities

Acid rain

Acid rain in China mainly occurred in the south to Yangtse River, the east to Qinghai-Tibet plateau and in the Sichuan basin. Acidity of precipitation in certain northern areas was relatively high. The distribution of acid rain remained basically unchanged. Acid rain situation in some areas got somewhat worsened. 

In 2002, pH value of the precipitation in 555 cities and counties, monitored in China, ranged between 4.03 and 8.31. Acid rain occurred in 279 cities and counties, accounting for 50.3% of the cities in the statistics. The number of cities and counties with pH value of precipitation equal to or lower than 5.6 was 181, accounting for 32.6% of the cities in the statistics. 

As compared to the previous year, the percentage of cities with annual average pH value of precipitation equal to or lower than 5.6 across the country remained basically unchanged. However, the number of cities with annual average pH value of precipitation lower than 2.8 increased by 2.8 percent. Acid rain was somewhat worsened in some areas. The number of cities without acid rain increased by 8.5 percent as compared with that in the previous year. 

Acid rain situation in the acid rain control zones

In 2002, the annual average PH value of precipitation in 109 cities in acid rain control zones ranged between 4.04 and 7.23. The annual average PH of precipitation in 79 of these cities, accounting for 72.5% of the cities monitored, was equal or lower than 5.6. Acid rain occurred in 101 cities, accounting for 92.7%. The frequency of acid rain occurrence in 5 cities including Yibin, Shaoxing, Jishou, Wenzhou and Huaihua, exceeded 90%. No acid rain occured in 8 cities including Jieyang, Deyang, Hezhou, Heshan, Yunfu, Qujing, Chaohu and Qianjiang. 

As compared with the previous year, the percentage of cities in the acid rain control zones with annual average PH value of precipitation equal to or lower than 5.6 remained basically unchanged. Nevertheless, the number of cities with annual PH of precipitation lower than 4.5 and the number of cities with the frequency of acid rain occurrence greater than 80% increased by 9.9 and 1.6 percent, respectively. The acid rain pollution in some parts of the acid rain control zones was somewhat worsened as compared with that in the previous year. 



Percentage of Cities with Different Acidity of Precipitation

Percentage of Cities with Different Frequencies of Acid Rain Occurrence


Percentage of Cities with Different Frequencies of  Acid Rain Occurrence in Acid Rain Control Zones


Percentage of cities with different acidity of participation in Acid Rain Control Zones

Regional distribution of acid rain

The regional distribution of acid rain remained basically unchanged. The cities with annual average PH value of precipitation lower than 5.6 were mainly located to the south of Yangtse River, east of Qinghai-Tibet plateau and Sichuan basin. In some parts of northern areas including Yanji, Tumen, Hunchun, Jiaohe in Jilin province, Fuxin and Gourd Island in Liaoning province, and Weinan in Shannxi province, the acidity of participation was relatively high.

In East China, South China, Central China and the Southwest, there were concentrated areas of severe acid rain pollution with high frequency of acid rain occurrence. 

 

Sketch Map of Regional Distribution of Acid Rain in China in 2002

Emission of major pollutants in waste gases

In 2002, the total emission of sulfur dioxide in waste gases reached 19.26 million tons, of which 15.62 million tons were from industrial sources and 3.645 million tons were from domestic sources. The emission of soot totaled 10.127 million tons, of which the industrial soot emission was 8.04 million tons and the domestic soot emission was 2.085 million tons. The total industrial dust emission was 9.41 million tons.

Emission of Major Pollutants in Waste Gases in China in Recent Years
Unit: 10,000 tons

Year SO2 Emission Soot Emission Industrial dusts Emission
Total Industrial Domestic Total Industrial  Domestic 
1998 2091.4 1594.4

497.0

1455.1 1178.5 276.6 1321.2
1999 1857.5 1460.1 397.4 1159.0 953.4 205.6 1175.3
2000 1995.1 1612.5 382.6 1165.4 953.3 212.1 1092.0
2001 1947.8 1566.6 381.2 1069.8 851.9 217.9 990.6
2002 1926.6 1562.0 364.6 1012.7 804.2 208.5 941.0
Change(%) -1.1 -0.3 -4.4 -5.3 -5.6 -4.3 -5.0

Measures and Actions

Tenth Five-Year Plan for Prevention and Control of Acid Rain and Sulfur Dioxide Pollution in the Two Control Zones was formulated jointly by SEPA, State Development and Planning Commission, State Economic and Trade Commission and Ministry of Finance, approved by the State Council.

Plan for Designation of 113 Key Cities for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution was approved by the State Council, which set up the time limit for reaching the standards and the measures to be adopted. 

Piloting on Total Amount Control of Sulfur Dioxide and Trade of Pollutant Discharge:
SEPA organized the piloting on total amount control of sulfur dioxide and trade of pollutant discharge. Shangdong, Shangxi, Jiangxi, Henan, Shanghai, Tianjin, Liuzhou in Guangxi and Huaneng Power Company participated in the piloting. 

Air Pollution Control in Beijing:The treatment and control of waste gas pollution sources were further strengthened. In 2002, the number of days in which the air quality index reached or better than Grade II totaled over 55%. The State Council approved the implementation of the second phase auto vehicle emission standard ahead of schedule in Beijing and Shanghai. 

Sulfur Dioxide Pollution Treatment: As of the end of 2002, a total of 3,800 projects for treatment of sulfur dioxide in the two control zones were completed. Among these, the desulfurization facilities for coal combustion generators totaled 4.03 million kilowatts. In Sichuan, Shandong, Jiangxi and Gansu provinces and in Chongqing, Beijing, Taiyuan and Qingdao, a series of projects of desulfuration in coal combustion power plants were established. 

Supervision and Management on New Vehicles for Reaching Environmental Standards: In 2002, SEPA published three inventories including 3000 new models of vehicles reaching environmental standards. For the first time, the Notice on Verification of Vehicles Models Reaching the Second Phase National Emission Standard was promulgated. 

 

Preface
Water Environment
Marine Environment
Atmospheric Environment
Acoustic Environment
Solid Wastes
Radiative Environment
Arable Land / Land Resources
Forests/Grassland
Biodiversity
Climate and Natural Disasters
Environmental Management