China says pollution down despite spending spurt

BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - China cut two key pollution measures in the first quarter of 2009, a senior environmental protection official said on Friday, adding that the government's pro-growth spending would not impact air and water.

Zhang Lijun, Vice Minister for Environmental Protection, said measures of acid-rain causing sulphur dioxide fell 4.9 percent in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier.

Chemical oxygen demand, used to gauge water pollution, fell 2.9 percent, Zhang told a news conference.

The two measures do not cover all the pollutants emitted by China's fast-growing industry, and Zhang said much needed to be done to clean up air and waterways.

"Surface water pollution remains grim," he said. "In some cities, air pollution remains quite serious."

China has vowed to cut the two key pollution measures by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010 and is also seeking to reduce energy intensity: the amount of energy used to create each unit of gross domestic product (GDP).

But the government's stimulus push to keep aloft economic growth has created new pressures on the environment, with officials eager to launch new industrial projects that could increase pollution.

Zhang, however, said that growth would not come at the expense of the environment. "At the same time as encouraging steady, relatively fast growth, we are constantly enhancing environmental protection," he said.

From November to the end of May, the Ministry of Environmental Protection rejected environmental impact reports on 29 projects, including chemical, steel and power plants.

Chemical oxygen demand dropped by 4.42 percent in 2008 from a year earlier, while sulphur dioxide emissions were down 5.95 percent, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. (Editing by Nick Macfie)