Chinese papermaking industry's pollution control work has shown preliminary effect and environmental pollution has begun to ease up. However, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) would continue to step up supervision of the papermaking industry.

Li Xinmin, deputy director of the pollution control department of the SEPA, made the above remarks at the Chinese papermaking industry environmental protection senior-level forum on October 8.

Li said SEPA has always made pollution control of the papermaking industry the key priority of its work. In the future, it would continue to step up supervision of the papermaking industry by actively making adjustment to the industrial structure, setting up environment-friendly papermaking companies and conscientiously supervising the environment of the papermaking industry.

It was learned that the Chinese papermaking industry is at a stage of rapid development. Statistics show that global paper production and consumption grow at a speed of two to three percent each year while in China they grow at 18 percent, the highest in the world.

It is said water pollution resulting from papermaking is quite prominent in China. In recent years the SEPA issued a series of policies to step up papermaking pollution control and prevention. With effort the control and prevention work has begun to show preliminary effect. Chemical oxygen demand for per 10,000 yuan of output has been reduced from the 462 kilograms in 1998 to 75 kilograms in 2004.