In an effort to curb mercury pollution nationwide, an office under China's environmental watchdog has launched a series of research projects. Coal-fired power plants, boilers for industrial use, PVC production enterprises and mercury mines are major sources of mercury pollution in the country, according to research being conducted by the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, as Xu Xiao reports:

Coal-fired power plants

Currently, the mercury emissions from the country's coal-fired power plants amount to about 100 tons annually, accounting for about 20 percent of mercury emissions.