Chinese water and air quality 'better' last year

Environmental analysis from the Chinese government claims that air quality and water supplies in the country were cleaner in 2008.

According to the China Environmental Monitoring Centre, good air quality hit 90.5 per cent in the country's major cities last year, reported the China Daily.

This figure was up by 1.8 per cent compared to 2007, the centre revealed.

Surface water quality was rated medium-polluted in 2008, it stated.

Xia Yeliang, economist at Peking University, explained: "Factory closures due to the economic slowdown are not the only factors that aided the better performance. The Green GDP (gross domestic product) concept and the government's long-standing environmental protection measures also helped largely."

Last week, a study conducted by Chinese doctors from Jiangsu suggested that one-tenth of birth defects in the country are caused by atmospheric pollution.