Trillions to be spent on pollution

The central government will spend more than 3 trillion yuan ($489.3 billion) to enhance air and water pollution prevention and treatment, environmental officials told an environmental protection industry forum on Sunday.

The government will back an airborne-pollution prevention and control action plan, which will be released soon, with 1.7 trillion yuan in funding, said Wang Tao, an official with the pollution prevention department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Wang added that an estimated 2 trillion yuan will be spent to improve monitoring of drinking water sources and control poisonous contaminants, as required by a water pollution prevention and control action plan in the works.

In addition, the ministry is drafting a national standard for surface water quality, said Zhao Yingmin, director of the ministry's science, technology and standards department.

Zhao said the draft is expected to be released to seek public opinion within the year and to be issued in 2014.

Because of the country's increasing efforts at curbing pollution, the domestic environmental protection industry is booming.

The output value of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15) is expected to exceed 10 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 40 percent compared with the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-10), Wang said.