Members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee agreed that despite some improvements in water quality, the overall situation of water pollution in China is still grim.
They suggested that the revised water pollution prevention law should take the water environment tolerance and water environment capacity into accounts when calculating the country's overall amount of emission permits, and incorporate emission reduction into the assessment of local governments.
Meanwhile, efforts should be made to step up joint prevention of pollution in rivers and lakes and to set up a unified, comprehensive information management system for water environment, they said.
The public should also be encouraged to participate in water environment protection, and public interest litigation related to water pollution should be supported, the political advisors said.
Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, presided over the session.