Factory owners lead moves to clean waterways
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E-mail China Daily, February 21, 2014
Last February, Jin Zengmin, chairman of Hangzhou's Maoyuanchang Eyeglass Co, offered 200,000 yuan ($32,000) to any local environmental protection official in Rui'an willing to swim in a filthy local river for more than 20 minutes.
Jin's post aroused national attention. "Inviting environmental-protection officials to swim in local rivers" became a popular catchphrase for Chinese people.
Last year alone, the township spent more than 20 million yuan on environmental protection, most of the money coming from local entrepreneurs.
Ye said as local residents they had an obligation to make their hometown a better place.
"In the past, we lacked awareness and a thorough governmental plan. Now we have both.''
Ye's company contributed more than 200,000 yuan last year to helping the local government clean rivers.
Chen Xue, deputy Party chief of the township, told Wenzhou Daily that 18 rivers have been cleaned in the last year or so.
"The quality of the water is tested once a quarter, and the standards will be maintained," Chen was quoted as saying.
Xia Baolong, Party chief of the province, said during a provincial economic meeting on Dec 27 that one of the key missions of the province in the coming years is to eliminate water pollution.
The province will spend 68 billion yuan in managing polluted waterways, starting from this year, Xia said.
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