China launched its first national census of pollution sources on Tuesday, amid a green drive to curb the country's environmental deterioration.

Zhou Jian, State Environmental Protection Administration vice head, said the aim of the census was to survey and identify sources of pollution in an accurate manner.

"The year 2008 will see a comprehensive data collection of pollution sources across China, a critical period in the whole census," he said. "The accurate and high-quality data of the pollution sources are expected to help the central government map out environmental protection policies."

More than 400,000 surveyors have been trained for the large-scale census.

Data collection and analysis will be finalized this year. In the first half of 2009, the survey findings will be examined and approved.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2008)