China steps up efforts against “black and smelly” water bodies in cities 
On July 17, 2022, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other three government departments of China announced a program to solve the issue of “black and smelly” water bodies in cities. The program aims to eliminate black and smelly water from 90% of water bodies in urban built-up areas of county-level cities by 2025. It also includes specific measures such as enhanced control of pollution from industrial companies.
Main targets
- Ensure that, by June 2022, the governments of county-level cities finish research on black and smelly water bodies in urban built-up areas and prepare a plan to address these water bodies.
- Eliminate black and smelly water from 90% of water bodies in urban built-up areas of county-level cities by 2025, while aiming to achieve this target a year earlier in some regions, including the Jing-Jin-Ji (Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province), Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta regions.
