Pollutant emissions have increased in the first half of the year, the country's top environmental watchdog warned yesterday.

Discharges of COD (chemical oxygen demand) and SO2 (sulphur dioxide) increased by 4.2 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively from the same period last year, said Zhou Shengxian, minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
The official attributed the rise to rapid economic growth so far this year.

The data, released during a teleconference in Beijing, was based on monitoring of 17 provinces and municipalities. Nationwide statistics will be published after further checks.

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