China attains pollution reduction goals ahead of time

BEIJING, Nov. 29 — China has achieved the pollution reduction targets for major pollutants outlined in its 12th Five-Year Plan, six months ahead of schedule, Environment Minister Chen Jining said Sunday.

北京，11月29日—— 中国已经达到了在十二五计划中制定的主要污染物减排目标，比预计提前了六个月，环境保护部部长陈吉宁于周六公开表示。

Nonetheless, a substantial improvement of the environment will only be possible if pollution is reduced by a further 30 to 50 percent, he said.

但是，环境保护的实质性进展只有在污染降低至30%到50%才可能实现，他说。

According to Chen, by 2014 discharge of sulfur dioxide and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), a measure of organic pollutants in water, had dropped by 12.9 and 10.1 percent from 2010 levels. Emissions of ammonia nitrogen and nitrogen oxide had also declined by 9.8 and 8.6 percent.

根据陈部长所说，在2014年之前，二氧化硫和化学需氧量的排放作为一种检测水中有机物污染的方法，已经相较2010年下降了12.9%和10.1%。氨氮和氮氧化物排放量也下降了9.8%和8.6%。

Discharges of the four major pollutants continued to drop in the first half of this year, Chen said.

今年上半年，四种主要污染物的排放量都在持续下降，陈部长说。

In the 12th Five-Year Plan (2010-2015) China vowed to cut COD and sulfur dioxide emissions by 8 percent and ammonia nitrogen and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10 percent compared with 2010 levels.

在十二五计划中（2010-2015）中国承诺将在2010年的水平上降低8%的二氧化硫和化学需氧量的排放量，降低10%的氨氮和氮氧化物排放量。

The environment minister also noted that the surface area affected by acid rain in China had shrunk to 1990s levels, while water quality had also improved significantly.

环境保护部还表示，中国被酸雨影响的地表面积也已经较90年代有所减少，水质也有显著改善。

China has phased out some 250,000 tones of ozone-depleting substances during the same period, he said. This is more than half of the total amount phased out by all developing countries.

他说，在同一时间内，中国也逐步减少了250000吨破坏臭氧层的物质排放。这个数据超过了所有发展中国家减少总量的一半。

"Not only are we working to fix our domestic environmental problems, we have made considerable contributions to addressing international challenges, too," Chen said.

陈部长说：“我们不仅是在解决国内的环境问题，我们还对应对国际挑战做出了巨大的贡献。”

The minister warned, however, some 20 million tones of major pollutants is still discharged annually in China, and that figure must be reduced by another 30 to 50 percent.

然而，环境保护部也提出警告，在中国每年仍有2千万吨主要污染物在排放，这个数字必须再次减少到30%到50%。

One year after the world's second-largest economy "declared war" on pollution, following decades of pursuing growth at the expense of the environment, Chinese citizens are still concerned by air quality, particularly in the big, industrial cities in the central and eastern regions.

以环境为代价追求了数十年发展，虽然距离世界第二大经济体的中国宣布对抗污染已经过去一年，中国人民仍然担忧空气质量，特别是华中和华东地区的工业大城市。

Just this week, Beijing, and neighboring Tianjin municipality and Hebei Province experienced a spell of heavy smog which is not expected to clear until Tuesday next week.

仅这周，北京和相邻的天津市，河北省就遭遇了严重的雾霾预警，这场雾霾预计直到下周二都才会散去。

Chen said China was committed to further reducing COD, sulfur dioxide, ammonia nitrogen and nitrogen oxide in the next five years, and will impose obligatory reduction targets for volatile organic compounds (VOC).

陈部长说中国承诺会在未来五年继续降低化学需氧量，二氧化硫，氨氮和氮氧化合物的排放量，并且将会对挥发性有机化合物实施强制性减排指标。