National Report: China

1. Executive Summary and Recommendation

1.1 Major environmental problems and threats

The major environmental problems of the Tumen River water quality lie clearly in the following four aspects:

1.1.1 The water of the Tumen River system is seriously polluted

The water of the Tumen River system serves as the water source for residents, industry and agriculture in the lower reaches of the Tumen River region. It irrigates nearly 3×10⁴ ha of the land. The middle to the lower reaches of the Tumen River used to be a major fishing region. Starting from the middle of the 1960s the Tumen River was gradually polluted. At present, the water in the upper reaches of the tributaries is fairly clean, but most of them, in most of the sections that flow through towns and cities, are polluted due to sewage discharges, and it is particularly the case in the Tumen River mainstream, the Gaya River, and the Hailan River. The main pollutants of the Tumen River regions are suspended solids (SS) and organic materials. The biggest polluting source is the Kaishantun Chemical Fiber Pulp Factory and the Shixian Paper Mill in China. The major polluting industries are those engaged in the production of chemical fiber, papermaking and paper products. There are limited underground water resources, however, and they are polluted in some places. It is obvious that the water environment issue will become one of the most crucial factors in the future development of the Tumen River region.

Although the water quality problem of the Tumen River drew attention from both China and DPR Korea, and they managed to reach certain agreement to treat it, the problem still exists due to the fact that no concerted managing authorities have been established, and no binding bilateral agreement has been signed, which resulted in the failure in terms of coordination and supervision. So little progress has been made in the treatment of the Tumen River till now.

1.1.2 There is some control over industrial pollution, but the problem of life sewage is exacerbated.

Many years’ treatment efforts have basically eased the industrial pollution, but the pollution from life sewage is on the rise. In 1996 the State Council promulgated "Decisions on Some Issues of Environmental Protection", which stipulates that by 2000 all of the industrial discharges must be up to the standards. By the end of 2000, according to statistics about 232 industrial pollution sources in the Tumen River area, only the Kaishantun Chemical Fiber Pulp Factory, the Shixian Paper Mill and the Yanbian Aluminum Factory had not completed their pollution treatment tasks yet, but 173 of them had reached the discharge standards, and 59 of them had been shut down by the prefecture or county (prefecture) governments according to the law, with the target-completion rate being 98.7%. Currently, the life sewage discharge has accounted for 50% of the total effluent discharges. With the population increase and the urban expansion, the life sewage pollution is being exacerbated year by year. The problem is that there has been no urban effluent treatment plant yet in this region, so the urban effluent pollution has become one of the major pollution sources to surface water.

1.1.3 Maladjustment of the forestry and decrease of rare animal and plant species groups

The Tumen River region is situated in the middle of the Changbai Mountain Range with bountiful forest resources. In 1887 an order came to cut down the trees to cultivate the land; in the 1940s the Japanese invaders fell the trees in a looting fashion; in the 1960s the "Grain is the mainline" policy destroyed more forests for arable land, all this reduced the size of the forests in this region. But even so, the forest coverage rate is still as much as more than 71%. Currently the area of middle-aged and young saplings makes up about 89%, and the mature forests account for much less, though. There are almost 30 rare and precious wild cash plants in the Tumen River region, such as fungus-glossy, hedgehog hydnum, mountain ginseng, and pine mushroom. Because of over and abusive development, the number of many species has dropped markedly, and some species have come to the verge of extinction (Refer to 1.1-1 and table 1.1-2 for the list of endangered species of rare higher animals and plants. Although the wild life resources are rich, with dozens of animal species under the national government protection, the over-logging of the forests has made the ecological habitats for the wild life smaller and smaller and the ecological food chain has been damaged, hence the result of reduced number of animal species.

1.1.4 Water and soil erosion still under way

The rolling mountains in the Tumen River region suffer severely from erosions, which is coupled by the uneven distribution of plantation coverage that constitutes the natural condition for water and soil erosion. The development and the ever-intensified human activities inng up more and more land make this region one of the places with rather severe water and soil erosion in the Yanbian Korean Nationality Autonomous Prefecture. The water and soil erosion in the Burhatong River is especially serious. Now the area of water and soil erosion is still larger than the area under treatment.

1.2 Priority impact upon international waters and biodiversity

1.2.1 Priority impact upon international waters

The pollution in the Tumen River region is mainly caused by industries and human lives of both China and DPRK. Because both sides do not share the same environment criteria, no internationals protection agreement has been reached. The companies most responsible for the pollution are the Kaishantun Chemical Fiber Pulp Factory and the Shixian Paper Mill in China, and the Mushan Iron Mine and the chemical factory in Aoji region in DPRK.

1.2.2 Priority impact upon biodiversity

The Tumen River region, owing to its special natural geographic and social economic conditions, is threatened in terms of biodiversity. Now 94 species of plants and 63 national-level protected species of animals are on the verge of extinction. 37 of them are listed in the "Red Book of Endangered Animal Species in China". Besides natural causes, human activities against nature are the biggest threat. They are as follows:

1. Loss or damage of ecosystem
   - Cutting down forests
   - Land enclosure and filling rivers for land
   - Constructing dams
2. Over utilization of biological resources
   - Over gathering wild plants
   - Over hunting wild animals
3. Introduction of outside species
4. Pollution of environment and water quality deterioration

1.2.3 Priority actions needed

1. Taking environment protection into the national economic plan;
2. Intensifying international cooperation to check the Tumen River pollution;
3. Strengthening ecosystem conservation, and protection of biodiversity in particular;
4. Unifying plans and making reasonable layouts for a number of ecology-friendly enterprises; paying attention to the structural adjustment of industries;
5. Intensifying pollution source treatment within a definite time; intensifying life sewage treatment and surface pollution source treatment while continuing with the treatment of industrial pollution;
6. Quickening paces in urban infrastructure construction;
7. Intensifying legal construction and raising the environmental awareness of the public.