A woman picks grapes at a vineyard in Yinchuan, Northwest Ningxia Hui autonomous region, on Sept 25, 2015. [Photo/VCG] The top legislature has urged intensified efforts to fight pollution in rural areas to ensure food safety after a four-month inspection revealed tough challenges including soil pollution. Although it is illegal to discharge sewage, garbage, gas or other harmful substances at the places of origin of agricultural products, governments in many places have not strictly observed the law, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The report, based on a national inspection of the enforcement of the Law on Agricultural Product Quality and Safety conducted between May and September, said 2.9 percent of China's cultivated land has serious or medium pollution, and the situation is getting worse in some areas. Specific information on Chinese farmland pollution, including the total area and distribution, is still not available, impairing supervision and restoration efforts, Ji Bingxuan, vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said on Wednesday while making the report to the committee. The inspection team suggested a national survey on soil pollution be completed by the end of the year to gain a detailed view of the size and distribution of polluted cultivated land and the impact of pollution on the quality of agricultural products, he said. Also, strict measures will be adopted to control the use of heavily polluted cultivated land. No edible agricultural products should be grown on it, he said. Intensified efforts will be made to punish enterprises that illegally discharge sewage containing heavy metal to stop it from flowing into farmland, he said. In some regions, especially where heavy metal mines are located, farmland is seriously polluted, which has caused food safety problems and aroused public complaints in recent years, Ji said. In November, a media report said rice growing in some farmland in Gangkoujie township in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, was found to contain cadmium at more than eight times the national standard, which caused a panic among locals. Investigations by local authorities later found sewage discharged by a local mine caused pollution of nearby farmland. Also, sewage treatment capacity in some cities had fallen behind demand, the report noted. Yu Fawen, an agricultural researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said environmental pollution is very serious in many rural areas of China, with treatment of sewage and solid waste at a significantly lower level than in urban areas, and more funding from the government is needed. A means of improving and maintaining the environment in rural areas should be established, so that different parties, including farmers, can participate in environmental protection, he added. warfarin silicone braceletimprinted rubber braceletscustom wrist bandssilicone wristbands no minimumwristbands with a message
Three young Chinese were honored Tuesday as the winners of an environmental project contest for their ideas and efforts in environmental and ecological protection.The project, Young Champion of the Earth in China, was jointly launched by Chinese social network Sina Weibo and the United Nations Environment Programme in April. It aims to seek budding eco-warriors, aged 18 to 30, who have inspiring ideas on how to save the environment.After a five-month online poll and review by an experts' panel, Wang Miao, Luo Yi and Zhu Chuanhui stood out from hundreds of candidates, and were named champions for their performance in safeguarding oceans, improving sustainable development in rural areas and advocating environmental protection through comic books.Zhu, for example, is the author of Andy's Adventure, a fairy tale that introduces nature, wildlife and how important it is to protect the environment.The comic is based on a 10-year-old boy in cartoon form called Andy. Zhu said after receiving the award that he hopes the story can guide more children to understand what the world is and how to save the earth.Many young people on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like online platform, are interested in environmental protection and engaged in charities, "so providing the new generation with such a chance will contribute to leading the country in safeguarding our environment and beautifying our country," a statement from the company said.Xu Zheng, a popular Chinese film director and actor, also participated in Tuesday's award ceremony and shared his experiences and opinions on protecting the environment, as well."Environmental protection not only needs ideas, but also action," he said. "What the three winners are doing is a good example for the public, which will encourage more people to join the team."
