Beijing: China, the world's second largest pollutor, today said major pollutants in the country have witnessed a steep decline in the first six month of 2015 following measures initiated by it to combat emissions.
Liu Bingjiang, head of the Department of Total Pollutants Control said year-on-year figures showed that the emission of chemical oxygen demand, ammoniacal nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide decreased by 2.9 per cent, 3.18 per cent, 4.63 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively in the first half of 2015.
China increased daily sewage treatment capacity by 3.5 million tonnes, with total daily capacity achieving 175 million tons.
Regulations were put in place for 270 paper-making, printing and dyeing operations requiring further treatment and recycling of wastewater, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
During the first six months, power plants that remove nitrogen oxide reached a capacity of 750 million kilowatts, accounting for 87 per cent of total installed thermal power capacity.
Coal-fired power plants that remove sulfur dioxide now accounted for 96 per cent of total installed coal-fired power capacity in China at the end of June.
China also increased gas usage by 750 million cubic meters, replacing 1.7 million tonnes of coal, in its nationwide coal-to-gas projects.
China is the largest producer of emissions followed by United States.
