Mao Rubai, chairman of the Environment and Resources Protection Committee of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), said that more than a third of the 340 cities monitored by the committee reported level III or worse air quality, indicating polluted or poor air quality.

The China Environmental Monitoring Center notes that air quality in the country's urban areas is classified in five levels: level I or excellent, level II or fairly good, level III or slightly polluted, level IV or poor, and level V or hazardous.

In water quality, China also faced a serious situation, Mao noted.

About 41 percent of China's seven major river valleys reported poor water quality; the Haihe River, Liaohe River and Huaihe Riverhad serious organic pollution, and over 90 percent of the city sections of the rivers had been seriously polluted.

About three quarters of China's lakes are eutrophicated, or polluted with overgrown algae or weeds, to various extents, while 35.9 percent of the foreshore seawater was of poor quality.

Last year, 79 red tides were recorded in China's maritime territory, affecting a total area of over 10,000 square kilometers of seawater.

Mao told a symposium on environment and resources protection that the poor environmental quality could be attributed to China's large discharges of pollutants over the long time.

For instance, discharging sulfur dioxide in high intensity over the years had subjected a third of China's land to acid rain.

Meanwhile, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in large quantities had seriously polluted the water environment.

Mao and his committee vowed to carry out a series of measures to protect the environment, including the inspection of the enforcement of China's laws on environmental protection.

It is also crucial to enhance the general public's awareness in environmental protection, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2003