Nation to expand oversight of waters

China plans to expand its national surface water monitoring network during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period by including more than 200 tributaries and small water bodies that play a strong role in people's daily lives, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Tuesday.

The initiative is intended to make monitoring better reflect water conditions near the public, Jiang Huohua, head of the ministry's department of water ecology and environment, said at a news conference.

The announcement comes as China has seen steady improvements in surface water quality, though many problems associated with pollution that affect daily life remain, Jiang said.

Following nine consecutive years of progress, the share of surface water rated at Grade III or better reached 90.4 percent in 2024, compared with 64.5 percent in 2015, he said. Further improvement is anticipated this year. The country has a five-tier system for surface water quality, with Grade I the highest.

Jiang attributed the gains to a series of measures rolled out nationwide. As of June, environmental officials had surveyed 580,000 kilometers of shoreline across seven major river basins, identifying 360,000 drainage outlets. More than 90 percent of violations linked to the outlets have been rectified, he said.

The ministry has also promoted construction of centralized sewage treatment facilities in major industrial parks, particularly in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins. To date, 2,700 sewage treatment plants have been built, and 3,500 problems related to inadequate pipe networks and malfunctions have been fixed.

He cautioned, however, that overall improvement does not mean all local water pollution problems have been solved.

Jiang said he has recently seen online complaints from residents in various regions about water pollution, with some cases leading to the death of trees, fish and shrimp. Some complaints have drawn wide public attention.

"This reminds us that the protection of the aquatic ecological environment should not only focus on metrics and data, but also on the feelings and voices of the people," he said.

Jiang also noted progress in cleaning up black and odorous water bodies in urban areas. As of June, more than 3,000 such bodies in cities at the prefecture level and above had been eliminated. In county-level cities, more than 90 percent of over 400 such water bodies had been removed, he said.

The ministry will work with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to consolidate these improvements, Jiang said.

"We will establish a mechanism to prevent treated water bodies from reverting to their black and odorous states, ensuring they remain clean and transform into picturesque landscapes for local residents," he said.