China advances heavy metal safety campaign

China has made phased progress in a special campaign to identify and rectify environmental safety hazards involving heavy metals, a senior environmental official said on Tuesday.

Zhong Bin, director-general of the Department of Solid Waste and Chemicals at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at a news conference that the ministry and other departments have carried out the campaign since 2025 to better prevent and control environmental risks from heavy metals such as lead, mercury and cadmium.

The campaign has focused on five key provinces, namely the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan and Guangdong provinces, as well as 21 key prefecture-level cities, including Sanmenxia in Henan province, Zhong said.

Key regions have basically completed investigations of heavy metal pollution sources and environmental risk assessments, while promoting rectification during the inspection process, he said.

More than 10,000 pollution sources have been identified in these areas. About 10 percent of them pose relatively high environmental risks, mainly involving abandoned mines and heavy metal-containing waste residues.

Local authorities have actively drafted and implemented rectification plans, Zhong said, adding that central government funds for ecological and environmental protection have supported the treatment of heavy metal-related environmental safety hazards in key regions.

China has also improved monitoring and early-warning capacity for heavy metal pollution. Key areas in Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan and Guangdong have built automatic water quality monitoring stations for heavy metals and installed online monitoring devices in places such as provincial boundary sections, downstream areas of industrial parks involving heavy metals, and drinking water sources in key river basins.

These facilities are intended to help detect, warn of and handle heavy metal pollution risks at an early stage, Zhong said.

As a next step, the ministry will work with other departments to guide key regions in accelerating the drafting and implementation of rectification plans, he said.

The plans will specify targets, tasks and deadlines to ensure that rectification work is completed on schedule and to a high standard, Zhong said.

The ministry will also encourage local authorities to explore low-cost and effective technologies for heavy metal pollution prevention, control and risk management. Mature and effective local practices will be publicized and promoted, Zhong added.