China plans to treat rural household waste in 90 percent of all villages by 2020, a ministry official said on June 14.

At the end of 2016, about 65 percent of villages had begun collecting and treating household garbage, up 20 percentage points from 2014, Zhang Xueqin, an official with Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said at a national workshop held in Hainan Province.

About 43 percent of that trash was sent to facilities in cities for treatment, Zhang said. Most provincial governments have set aside special funds to finance the program.

In China, waste management in rural areas lags behind that of urban areas, as trash is usually burned, buried, or discarded without treatment.

The housing ministry will improve waste collection and treatment as a priority and promote garbage sorting in the future, Zhang said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2017)