2014 NGWA Groundwater Summit

May 04 - 07, 2014

The Contaminated Site Remediation Industry in China

The Chinese policy of “Withdraw two Forward three”, referring to “the effort to suppress the second industry and develop the third industry in well developed areas in China”, was issued as a result of rapid urbanization and industrial transfer a few years ago. This policy has led to the closure and relocation of many large and medium-sized enterprises nationwide, resulting in more than 500,000 contaminated sites in the well developed areas and industrial bases, based on the rough estimate by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China. These heavily-contaminated sites result in contamination in soil and groundwater, severely impacting the human health and ecological system. The ever-increasing number of contaminated sites appears to guarantee a booming remediation industry in China. However, currently there is no regulation on cleanup goals for soil and groundwater on a national level, and the remediation industry is growing fast, only to meet the high demand of real estate development, to house the largest population in the world. These unique settings made the remediation industry of China quite different from the rest of world. This study will present the current status of contaminated site remediation industry in China and provide insights on the future development of the industry.