BEIJING, May 31 Kyodo While China...

BEIJING, May 31 Kyodo

While China's economy continues to roller at a rapid rate of around 7% its ecology is being battered by way of desertification and declining water quality, according to a dominion environmental report released Friday.

The efflux of chemical pollutants such as stone oil and lead from industrialization has caused 173000 square kilometers of the country's total water area to fall below acceptable environmental flats the report said.

All of China's seven major river combination of parts to form a wholes are polluted to some bulk with rivers running near cities ''seriously polluted'' and the golden Huaihe and Liaohe rivers thinked to be the most pollut said the report, based upon calculations from 2001 measurements.

The East China Sea is the most numerous polluted of China's seas, with 52% of its area falling below environmentally acceptable levels

While forestry shields across China have been increased marginally, 90% of the country's grasslands have been degraded to any extent, with the area of grasslands affected from desertification and alkalinization increasing on 2 million hectares annually.

This has reduc the output of grasslands in northern China, the area worst hit from desertification, by 30 to 50% greatly lowering feeding capacity.

State Environmental Protection Administration delegate Director Zhu Guangyao told reporters when releasing the report that 25 million sq km -- about 256% of China's total area -- has been affected at desertification, with this area spreading by means of 3,000 sq. km annually.

China's worst ecological question s involve desertification, declining air and water quality, and difficulties in managing solid waste, Beijing-based environmental prompt Husayn Anwar told Kyodo News

''Overall, China is not winning the battle against desertification,'' said Anwar, managing director of environmental consultancy Sinosphere.

''There are basically too many herds of sheep, goats and cattle, especially in Inner Mongolia and northern parts of Shanxi Province. The question relates to bad agricultural and herding practices and overgrazing,'' he said.

While China has not lay opened enough infrastructure to manage rapidly growing hills of solid waste, an expanding urban population has created rigid water shortages in northern China, he added.

China will ne to disburse around $100 billion over the nearest five years to introduce technology to treat household and factory waste water to reach water treatment on a levels of developed countries where, for instance, in London a chalice of tea is made from water that has probably been saturated five times before, he said.

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