China cleans up rural environment

BEIJING - China's efforts to clean up the living environment for rural residents are producing encouraging outcomes, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said here Thursday.

More than 80 percent of the country's villages have launched clean-up campaigns since the end of last year, disposing of over 40 million tonnes of garbage, 30 million tonnes of mud in ditches and ponds, and rubble in 40 million locations, said Li Weiguo, an official with the ministry.

The central authorities issued an action plan to clean up rural environment at the end of last year.

China started construction on over 50,000 garbage treatment facilities and 80,000 sewage treatment facilities in rural areas the first half of this year, Li said at a press conference.

Renovation of toilets for more than 10 million rural households were also carried out during the period, after the successful renovation of toilets for over 10 million rural households in 2018.

China launched a toilet revolution in 2015 to increase the number and sanitation of toilets at tourist sites. The campaign was expanded to improve public toilets in cities and build better toilets in rural areas.

The central government has allocated 7 billion yuan (about $1.03 billion) to help rural areas press ahead with the toilet revolution since last year. Another 3 billion yuan was allocated for clean-up of rural areas in Central and West China regions.