China Set Targets of Pollution Reduction for 2010     

China has set targets of cutting 400 000 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions in 2010 on the basis of that in 2009, and cutting additional 200 000 tons of chemical oxygen demand (COD) after the COD aim set during the 11th Five-Year Program was met in 2009. The Minister of Environmental Protection (MEP) announced in a statement on January 25th.
   Emissions of sulfur dioxide in China dropped 10.4% in 2009 from a year earlier and fell 24.6% compared with that of 2005, MEP said.
   The country's COD and emissions of sulfur dioxide fell for four consecutive years after the target was set at the beginning of 2006.
   "The desulfurization technology is the key for further reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions", commented a director from CPCIA (China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association)," China has currently mastered the desulfurization technology and has reused sulfur dioxide in chemical production."
   However, it is difficult to reduce the amount of COD and the reduction progress is very different among regions, added an official of MEP.