Heilongjiang province has announced plans to increase its effort to reduce pollution and protect resources, and to put all water resources in the province in good condition, and to clean up heavily polluted water by 2020.

The recently published Work Plan on Water Pollution Prevention and Controls calls for stricter limits on approval procedures for geothermal and mineral water development, and mining licenses as well as unapproved individual wells.

There will also be improvements of old water taps and toilets in public facilities, especially those that fail to meet water-saving standards for the better use of resources and small industrial enterprises that are rundown and fall short of environmental protection will be shut down as will any projects that discharge poisonous or harmful industrial waste in the making of paper, leather, or coke as well as oil refining, electroplating and agrochemical production by the end of 2016.

There will also be a greater effort to clean at least 20 heavily polluted rivers in Harbin and the city of Mudanjiang, to eliminate the stench by 2017 and, by 2020, Heilongjiang will increase sewage treatment to 80 - 90 percent in counties and cities and improve infrastructure for rainwater collection and recycling.