China's booming economy polluting its coastal water

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BEIJING, Aug 4 (AFP): China's booming economy is wreaking havoc on the nation's coastal waters, with sewers often spilling right into parts of the sea reserved for tourism or aqua-farming, state media said today.
This is the conclusion of a new survey of China's coastal environment over the first six months of the year, published by the State Oceanic Administration, the China Daily reported.
According to the survey, 77 per cent of 500 pollution outlets monitored by the administration discharge more pollutants than permitted, an 18-per cent increase from the first half of 2006.
Forty-two per cent of the outlets monitored went into sea fishery farms, often carrying pollutants such as phosphate, ammonia and nitrogen, according to the paper.
However, the paper took pains to emphasise that "it did not pose a threat to seafood security."
A series of high-profile cases involving shoddy or dangerous Chinese exports has raised global concerns about the safety of products made in the country.