Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – Zhou Guoying, spokesperson and deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, stated in Guangzhou on the 20th that Guangdong has implemented dynamic management of over 9,900 sewage outfalls into the sea, with each outfall having its own file, and has included key outfalls in the "random inspection and public disclosure" enforcement supervision system.
At a press conference held that day by the Information Office of the Guangdong Provincial People's Government on marine ecological protection under the theme of "New Guangdong at Sea," Zhou Guoying stated that, in accordance with the requirement of "investigating all outfalls and ensuring thorough investigation," Guangdong has comprehensively carried out the "investigation, measurement, tracing, treatment, and management" of sewage outfalls into the sea, basically completing the investigation of sewage outfalls along more than 4,000 kilometers of mainland coastline and more than 1,500 kilometers of inhabited island coastline. Currently, the treatment rate of sewage outfalls into the sea in six cities in the Pearl River Estuary—Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, and Jiangmen—has reached 100%, and the remaining eight coastal cities have formulated treatment plans and are making orderly progress.
Over the past five years, the overall marine ecological environment quality in Guangdong Province has steadily improved, with the water quality of nearshore waters continuing to improve at a high level. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the average proportion of nearshore waters with excellent water quality in Guangdong Province increased by 9 percentage points compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period, reaching 91.2% in 2025, 5.2 percentage points higher than the planned target.
According to Zhou Guoying, Guangdong has focused on reducing total nitrogen in rivers flowing into the sea, promoting comprehensive governance of the waters adjacent to the Pearl River Estuary, and implementing a "one river, one policy" approach to total nitrogen management and control for six rivers flowing into the sea, including the Qianshan River. In 2025, the total nitrogen concentration of all river sections in the province included in the national assessment achieved negative growth compared to 2020, and the proportion of nearshore waters with excellent water quality in the Pearl River Estuary reached 73.9%, achieving the national target set for the province.
Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, Guangdong has allocated a total of 650 million yuan in provincial special funds to support 24 beautiful bay construction projects. To date, Shenzhen's Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay, Shantou's Qing'ao Bay, and the Wanshan Islands in Zhuhai have been recognized as excellent national beautiful bay cases, while Zhanjiang's Jinsha Bay and Bomao Harbor have been designated as national beautiful bays.
Furthermore, Guangdong Province has fully leveraged the scientific guiding role of ecological environment zoning management in environmental impact assessment (EIA) approvals, providing precise services for key project EIA processing, strictly adhering to the bottom line of ecological environment quality, and guiding the rational development and layout of projects such as modern marine ranches and offshore wind power. Since 2021, the province has approved more than 300 marine industry projects, with a total investment exceeding 350 billion yuan. (End)
