According to a decision by the State Council, China has set seven major tasks for environmental protection: control of water pollution, including ensuring safety of drinking water and improvement of river valleys; enhancing environmental protection in urban areas by controlling pollution; control of air pollution by reducing the emission of sulphur dioxide; protection of the environment in rural areas, with preventing soil pollution as a priority; enhancing the protection of ecology to promote harmony between man and nature; enhancing supervision and management of nuclear facilities and radioactive sources; and implementing national environmental protection projects to solve urgent environmental issues.

The decision requires that by 2010 the environmental quality inkey areas and cities should be improved and the deterioration of ecological environment be checked, and by 2020 the quality of the environment and ecology be markedly improved. Enditem