Authorities mull intelligent green monitoring system

China is advancing an intelligent environmental monitoring system that integrates space, air, ground and sea, with a focus on addressing environmental issues that directly affect people, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Jiang Huohua, director of environmental monitoring at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at a news conference that authorities are embracing rapid technological advances to enhance monitoring capabilities.

In a recent move, the ministry, along with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation, issued guidelines to promote high-quality development in the environmental protection equipment industry.

The guidelines call for expanding the development of robots and remote-operation equipment, particularly for environmental monitoring. They also promote the use of advanced technologies such as virtual reality and digital twins to improve monitoring efforts, Jiang said.

China has made significant progress in noise monitoring, he added. All 4,005 noise monitoring facilities in cities above the prefecture level are now automated, up from just 8.7 percent in 2023.

"These facilities are not only automatic, but also intelligent," Jiang said.

Equipped with sound source identification modules, they can detect and trace different sounds, such as insect chirping, bird calls and human activity. Beyond measuring noise levels, they can pinpoint the origins of specific sounds, he said.

Authorities have deliberately placed these facilities in bustling urban areas — with primarily noise-sensitive residential buildings in their surroundings, rather than in parks or tourist sites — to ensure the data reflects real conditions for residents, he added.

The ministry is also adopting large-scale AI models such as Deep-Seek to improve monitoring. The digital transformation of air and surface water monitoring stations has reduced the need for on-site maintenance and cut individual maintenance times by more than 70 percent, Jiang said.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, environmental monitoring of surface water quality will expand to medium- and small-sized rivers near residential areas, with 170 rivers set to be included, he said.

China's satellite remote sensing capabilities have also significantly improved since 2021, Jiang said. The deployment of seven satellites has established a multi-satellite monitoring system with frequent cycles, broad coverage and high resolution.

"Remote sensing using satellites and drones has already proven pivotal and will continue to play an increasingly important role in environmental protection," he said.