According to Dong Baotong, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment of China, China has built the world’s largest, most comprehensive and technologically advanced environmental monitoring network.
The number of monitoring stations directly supervised by the ministry has reached more than 33,000, the official said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday.
About two-thirds of these stations are for soil monitoring, 1,734 for air quality and 3,646 for groundwater, he added.
“The system covers all cities at prefecture level or above, as well as major river basins and sea areas under China’s jurisdiction,” he said.
Dong said that in recent years, in addition to traditional priority areas such as water, air and soil, China has also built monitoring stations for ecological quality, biodiversity, greenhouse gases and emerging pollutants, achieving virtually complete coverage in terms of monitoring items.
Until now, surveillance systems were dominated by manual equipment, “but now, automated surveillance has become the predominant method, with drones, mobile surveillance vehicles and laser radar becoming standard equipment at surveillance stations across the country,” he said.
Dong said the ministry is currently the primary user of seven surveillance satellites, which provide powerful scientific support to surveillance efforts.
