China promises greater efforts to protect its marine ecosystems

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01:56

China is vowing to step up its efforts to tackle marine pollution and protect ecosystems at sea.

The country's newly established Ministry of Ecology and the Environment said it would launch a series of actions, including a campaign to clean up the country's Bohai Bay, as well as honing marine protection legislation.

An official said that despite the efforts of curbing pollution in the sea, China still faces significant problems with its marine ecosystems.

Serious pollution has been detected in nearly half of the 44 key monitored bays along China's vast coastline. Red and green algae blooms are frequent.

An experimental area of marine environmental protection in Long Island, China's Shandong Province /VCG Photo

To tackle these, China has promised more efforts, starting from a campaign in the country's biggest bay area, the Bohai Sea area.

Ke Chang, director of the Department of Marine Ecology and Environment from the ministry said that as one of the fiercest battles against pollution, the action plan for comprehensive pollution control in the area of the Bohai Sea has been approved by the State Council, and relevant actions will be launched in a few days.

A tough battle indeed. That's because more than twenty percent of China's population lives in the Bohai coastal region. Striking a balance between economic development and conservation will be paramount.

"Eighty percent of the pollutants in the area are from the land. And great attention must be paid," Ke Chang said.

The official said that details on the action plan will be released in the coming days. The hope is to dramatically improve water quality in the next two years.

Marine protection laws and regulations will be revised soon, particularly on illegal marine dumping activities.

The new ministry also stressed a commitment to public information transparency, in contrast to the attempted cover-up of a recent chemical leak incident in southeast China's Quanzhou.

"Any efforts to hide the truth from the public are foolish, wrong and useless, and will be punished in the end," said Liu Yongbin, a spokesperson for the ministry.

China recently incorporated separate functions for protecting both ecology and the environment into just one ministry. This is evident in its commitment to marine protection.

With the deepened institutional reform, the ministry said more actions and coordination are on the way to help avert pollution and make a better environment not only for the country but also for the world.