The state will mobilize all forces to jointly rectify noise pollution and return a peaceful and harmonious living environment to the public. The "China Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Report (2024)" released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in conjunction with the Central Office for Spiritual Civilization Construction and 13 other ministries and units on the 30th showed that the overall urban sound environment quality in China improved in 2023, with a steady increase in the manual monitoring compliance rates for daytime and nighttime in sound environment functional areas. However, the prevention and control of noise pollution still have a long way to go.

At the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on the 30th, spokesperson Pei Xiaofei introduced that in 2023, the 12345 government service hotlines in cities and prefectures across the country, as well as departments such as ecology and environment, public security, and housing and urban-rural development, received a total of approximately 5.706 million noise complaint and report cases, an increase of 1.203 million cases compared to the previous year. Noise disturbance issues accounted for 61.3% of the complaints and reports received by the national ecological environment letter and visit complaint and report management platform, ranking first among all environmental pollution elements, making noise pollution the most concerning environmental issue for the public.

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In recent years, with the rapid development of urban construction in China, the population density has gradually increased, the number of motor vehicles has been growing, and activities such as industry, commerce, and construction have become more frequent, leading to an increasing number of noise sources. As the battles for blue skies, clear waters, and clean soil have achieved significant results, the public's expectations for the quality of the ecological environment have become higher, and the issue of noise pollution has gradually become a weak link in the quality of the ecological environment and the living environment of urban and rural areas.

The First Financial Daily reporter learned from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment that after the issuance of the "14th Five-Year Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan," in 2023, for the first time, a full coverage of the division of sound environment functional areas was achieved in 338 cities and prefectures (excluding Sansha City) and 1822 county-level cities across the country. In addition, all 338 cities and prefectures have completed the assessment of the division of sound environment functional areas.

Localities have innovated management methods to eliminate noise pollution "at the doorstep" of residents. Twenty-one provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government), and 106 prefecture-level cities have issued noise pollution prevention and control action plans or implementation plans. In response to typical noise complaint cases that have drawn strong public attention, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has carried out four batches of supervision on 42 typical cases, benefiting tens of thousands of people.

Pei Xiaofei introduced that localities have promoted the automation of noise monitoring. In 2023, 36 municipalities directly under the Central Government, provincial capitals, and cities with separate planning status have basically completed the determination of automatic monitoring points for the sound environment quality in functional areas and the construction and networking of the system. Many places have implemented the management of industrial noise pollution discharge permits, with 120,000 industrial enterprises' noise included in the pollution discharge permit management, and by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan," full coverage of industrial noise pollution discharge permits will be achieved.

At the same time, cities such as Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Kunming, Xiamen, and Jiaxing have carried out pilot projects to create quiet residential areas. So far, more than 1,700 quiet residential areas have been established nationwide. During the middle school and college entrance examination periods, various methods such as issuing倡议书 and open letters have been used to guide all sectors of society to consciously reduce noise-generating behaviors, benefiting more than 30 million examinees annually; 92 trains on routes such as Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Harbin, Chengdu-Chongqing, Shanghai-Kunming, and Guiyang-Nanning have set up "quiet carriages."

On the evening of the 30th, industry experts said in an interview with the First Financial Daily reporter that among the noise in many cities, the number of complaints from the public about airport noise is relatively large, and the prevention and control tasks are arduous. "The number and proportion of airports in China with serious and relatively serious noise impacts have increased, and the situation is not optimistic. There are many noise-related letters and visits, complaints received each year." The expert introduced that there are more airports with noise impacts in the central, eastern, and southern regions of China, and relatively fewer in the northeast, northwest, and southwest regions, which matches the distribution of airports in China, which is dense in the east and sparse in the west.

A previous survey by the ecological environment department found that residents around airports in first-tier cities or tourist cities have a stronger reaction to aircraft noise. "At present, there are prominent issues in China's airport noise pollution prevention and control standards, insufficient monitoring, and unsystematic research," the expert said.As the scale of China's civil aviation transportation rapidly expands, the issue of noise pollution has become increasingly prominent. Experts explain that noise is a form of energy that does not leave behind any polluting substances in the surrounding environment during its propagation, unlike air and water pollution which have specific pollutants. Noise pollution is confined to a certain area around the source of pollution, and it disappears immediately once the source is gone, whereas air and water pollution involve the spread of contaminants, which can persist for a long time (or a relatively long period). Moreover, noise sources are highly dispersed, and it is difficult to collect all the noise from an enterprise for centralized treatment, whereas air and water pollutants can be collected and treated in a centralized manner. The impact of noise contains a significant subjective element; the same intensity of sound can be perceived differently by different individuals, making the definition of noise pollution often challenging, whereas air and water pollution are objective and do not shift according to human will.

Experts recommend promoting advanced technologies, encouraging the research, development, and widespread application of low-noise processes and equipment, and updating the industrial structure adjustment guidance catalog and the national advanced pollution prevention technology catalog in the field of noise and vibration control in a timely manner to promote the green and high-quality development of related industries. Industrial enterprises that emit noise should take effective vibration and noise reduction measures, strengthen the management of noise sources such as fixed equipment, transportation tools, and cargo handling within the factory area, and avoid sudden noise disturbances to the public.

Pei Xiaofei stated that in the next steps, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will urge localities to complete the division of departmental functions as soon as possible to gradually resolve the unclear management responsibilities for noise pollution; continue to supervise typical noise complaint cases to promote the resolution of noise disturbances at the 'doorstep' of the public; guide localities in the construction of functional area acoustic environmental quality automatic monitoring stations, ensuring that all 3,800-plus automatic monitoring stations in more than 338 prefecture-level and above cities across the country are completed by the end of this year; and continuously promote the construction of quiet residential areas and the application of noise maps, to enhance the public's sense of acquisition of a tranquil acoustic environment.