Most of China’s air and water too polluted for human use

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection on Thursday, June 4, 2015 published its “State of China’s Environment 2014.” It revealed that out of 161 cities monitored for air quality, only 16 cities have acceptable air.

Statistics show that only 3.4 percent of China’s surface water is high quality, while nearly forty percent of surface water is too hazardous for direct contact with humans and should only be used for industrial purposes and irrigation. Only 10.8 percent of groundwater is of high quality, with more than 60 percent unfit for drinking or bathing.