China has more than 21,000 chemical enterprises and factories. At least half
of them are built along the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, two "mother
rivers" of China.
"The result would be terrible if incidents happened in these factories," Zhou
told reporters.
A national investigation on these factories was carried out before the end of
January.
The problems have been caused by China's rapid economic development, which
has sometimes been at the expense of environmental protection, Zhou said.
"It is impossible to solve these problems overnight," he said.
His predecessor, Xie Zhenhua, resigned after the Songhua incident.
New guidelines have since been drawn up that clearly specifies the
objectives, tasks and policy measures for environmental protection in the
future.
The ability to protect the environment will become a vital measure as to
whether officials at various levels are qualified or not in their roles, the
guidelines state.
In 2005, nearly 30,000 environmental infringement cases were investigated and
sanctioned. Among them, 2,609 enterprises were suppressed or closed down, and
more than 300 people punished.
Top Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, have promised at the
annual session that China is devoted to building an energy-saving and
environment-friendly society in the coming five years and beyond.
The previous ignorance in environmental protection has made China pay a lot
in the past several years. In the first four years of the State's 10th Five-Year
Plan period (2001-05), China invested a total of 600.6 billion yuan (US$72.3
billion) in pollution prevention and control.