Xinhua Insight: Chinese lawmakers call for greater efforts against soil contamination, poor rural environment

Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday suggested accelerating legislation on soil pollution and the rural eco-environment while reviewing the State Council's first report on annual environmental work.

At an ongoing bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), lawmakers voiced concerns over soil contamination, citing statistics from the 2015 environmental report and recent media coverage of an alleged link between soil pollution and students' health in the eastern city of Changzhou.

Serious soil contamination has been detected in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and the old industrial base in the northeast, and extremely high heavy metal in the soil of many parts of southwest and central-south regions, the report showed.

Recently, blood samples taken from students of Changzhou Foreign Languages School reportedly showed abnormal readings after the students moved to the school's new campus near the former site of several chemical plants. The abnormalities are suspected to be linked to soil contamination.

"Soil pollution in our country is very disturbing, which will jeopardize food safety and people's health," said Wang Mingwen, an NPC Standing Committee member.

Soil pollution is interrelated with air and water pollution, but China has rolled out many laws and standards pertinent to the latter, Wang added.

Heavy metal polluted soil could harm generations, another lawmaker Lyu Zushan said, stressing it would be very difficult and costly to tackle it.

Lawmakers suggested that a nationwide survey would help uncover exactly how much soil has been polluted, which will help expedite laws and standards, and increase government spending in this regard.

They also drew attention to heavy pollution in the countryside, saying that improving the environment in which people live will improve their lives.

Many towns and villages have poor sanitary standards, with overflowing garbage piles, leaky sewage and dusty air, said lawmaker Xie Xuren.

Xie asked central and local authorities to invest more in improving the living environment in rural areas, spend their budgets more efficiently and better mobilize farmers to participate in building better homes.

"Priority should be given to addressing the urgent needs of farmers to ensure that they can drink clean water, use sanitary toilets, walk on flat roads and take care of garbage and sewage properly," he said.

Xie also urged governments at county and township levels to better organize and manage rural planning and environmental regulations by setting up special agencies, assigning competent professionals to the tasks and ensuring funding.

Lawmaker Yu Huihuai from the northeastern county of Liaozhong called on the authorities to formulate environmental protection policies in accordance with local conditions.

During the review, lawmakers also applauded the State Council's first report to the top legislature on the environment, which was a significant provision in the new Environmental Protection Law that aimed to help strengthen the legislature's supervision over environmental work.

The law, which took effect in early 2015, ordered governments of county-level and above to report annually on their environmental conditions.

The report presents China's progress and challenges in environmental protection in a faithful and objective manner, legislators said.

It is very meaningful for the legislature and public to evaluate and supervise the government's environmental work to ensure environment-related laws are enforced, lawmaker Yang Wei told Xinhua.

It also shows a positive change that the administrative branch could give a comprehensive and objective report on issues important to national development and future generations, Yang said.

Echoing the lawmakers, Jiang Huiling, head of the China Institute of Applied Jurisprudence under the Supreme People's Court, said it is important that the legislature fully exercises its right of supervision over the government's environmental work.

Besides hearing government reports, Jiang said, the legislature should review the government's documents on environmental protection, and supervise its formulation and implementation of environmental plans, and its law enforcement. Endi