中国政府启动水污染防治计划

China has ordered the closure of small plants in 10 dirty industries and a clampdown on the tapping of underground water sources in a renewed effort to tackle contamination.

中国已经下令关闭10个肮脏行业的小型工业企业，并且严控地下水超采，从而再度发起解决污染的努力。

An action plan released yesterday lowers import tariffs on components for treatment plants and other equipment used to cut water pollution. The initiative offers international companies an opportunity as China cleans up after years of unfettered industrialisation.

昨日公布的《水污染防治行动计划》称，旨在降低水污染的处理厂和其他设备所用零部件将免征进口关税。在中国清理多年不受约束的工业化的后果之际，此举为海外企业提供了一个机遇。

Pollution is becoming a political liability for the ruling Communist party as citizens become more aware of the extent of the damage done to the country’s air, rivers and soil.

随着中国公民越来越敏锐地意识到国内空气、河流和土壤所受的损害程度，污染正成为执政的共产党的政治负担。

“At present, water quality in some regions of our country is poor, the water ecology has been damaged severely and hidden dangers of environmental problems are prominent,” the report said.

“当前，我国一些地区水环境质量差、水生态受损重、环境隐患多等问题十分突出，”《行动计划》称。

The goal is to make more than 93 per cent of the supply to cities meet the standard of “water suitable for drinking” by 2020, and raise above 70 per cent the proportion of water meeting that standard in seven river basins. About 63 per cent of water in those rivers meets the standard, according to Financial Times calculations.

《行动计划》中提出的目标是，到2020年，城市集中式饮用水水源水质达到适于饮用标准的比例总体高于93%，七大重点流域水质达到这一标准的比例总体达到70%以上。根据英国《金融时报》的计算，目前这些流域大约63%的水达标。

Authorities in Beijing, Tianjin, a neighbouring city, Hebei province and in the Pearl and Yangtze river deltas have been told to identify areas where tapping aquifers should be limited or forbidden. Depletion of aquifers is acute in those areas and the wider North China plain, where farmers, golf courses and luxury compounds rely on wells. To help hydrate the arid north, China last year inaugurated the South-North Water Diversion project that draws supplies from the Yangtze Basin to the capital.

京津冀以及珠三角和长三角的地方政府，被要求确定应当限采或禁采地下水的地区。目前这些地区乃至整个华北平原超采地下水的问题十分严重，农民、高尔夫球场和高档居住区都依靠水井。为了帮助向干旱的北方供水，去年中国启用南水北调引水项目，将长江流域的水引流至首都。

“As long as there is a wall in the suburbs and villages around Beijing you can see advertisements for well diggers, and they have to dig deeper and deeper because the aquifer is lower and lower,” said Dai Qing, an environmentalist who has raised the alarm.

“在北京周围的郊区和乡村，只要有一堵墙，你就会看到凿井的广告，他们不得不挖得越来越深，因为含水层越来越低了，”曾在这个问题上敲响警钟的环保人士戴晴表示。

The plan also assigns tasks to specific industries, since previous attempts to address pollution have often been hobbled by competing interests.

《行动计划》还将任务分配给特定的行业，因为以往治理污染的努力往往被相互竞争的利益所阻碍。

Industries ordered shut include fertiliser and coking plants, small tanneries, paper mills and oil refineries. Larger plants will be given access to technology to reduce the discharge of waste water, the plan says. Planners believe small plants lack the capital and profit margins to invest in pollution mitigation.

被勒令关闭小型企业的行业包括农药、炼焦、制革、造纸和炼油等《行动计划》称，较大的工厂将获得技术以减少废水排放。规划者相信，小厂缺乏投资于降低污染所需的资本和利润率。

Additional reporting by Owen Guo

郭晨(Owen Guo)补充报道