The Chinese government is to spend £9billion cleaning up Bo Hai Bay in the country’s northeast, one of its most polluted coastal regions, according to the China Daily newspaper.

Industrial pollution, agricultural runoff, contamination from shipping and an oil spill in 2002 have caused widespread pollution in the bay and had a severe impact on the local fishing industry. Some fish caught in the bay could even be poisonous if consumed, said a report from the Xinhua news agency.

The money will be spent on monitoring seawater quality, setting up treatment plants, addressing industrial pollution and the establishment of marine parks to help to rehabilitate the area and boost its economic potential. Maritime production is expected to account for 11 per cent of China’s GDP by 2010.

The 78,000-square-kilometre bay, which is located 150 kilometres east of Beijing, represents the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea (Huang Hai). The majority of the pollution in the bay is thought to come from factories situated along the Yellow River (Huang He), which drains into it.