SHANGHAI, April 13 (Xinhua) -- All countries should take their due responsibility for pollution without unfairly characterizing China and India as the only polluters, a senior U.S. official said here Thursday.

    Steven Johnson, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), made the remarks at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, in order to correct a report which misquoted him as blaming China for causing mercury depositions in the United States and exerting a "direct impact on the United States."

    A report in the Financial Times on April 11 entitled "Toxic Chinese mercury pollution traveling to U.S." quoted Johnson as saying "the EPA had traced high levels of 'mercury deposition' in the U.S. to China and India" and "that is the most direct impact [of China's pollution] on the United States".

    "Unfortunately, I was misquoted and taken out of context, and it's unfair to characterize the pollution coming just from China and India," said Johnson, adding that other countries including the Republic of Korea and the United States all contributed to global air pollution.

    Approximately 2,000 tons of mercury were released into the environment globally each year, and the emissions of coal fired power plants in the United States alone amounted to 48 tons, he acknowledged.

    "That's why it's critical that we all work together to address the air pollution issues," he said.

    Johnson was satisfied with his "productive" China tour, during which a series of agreements and cooperation projects were reached between the environmental protection departments of both countries.

    A Sino-U.S. program was launched on Monday to enhance bilateral cooperation on the prevention, management and treatment of hazardous and solid wastes in China, in a bid to reduce their negative impact on human health and ecosystems.

    The joint initiative, dubbed the "Strategy for Hazardous and Solid Waste Cooperation", was adopted during a meeting between Zhou Shengxian, head of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), and Steven Johnson in Beijing.

    The two countries, together with other nations, are preparing a program called the Asia-Pacific partnership on clean technologies and climate change.

    Another international project involving China, which aims at high-efficiency coal use with zero emissions, is already underway in the United States.

    "Both the United States and China are vital to the health of our environment," said Johnson, vowing that the United States and China should "not only be major contributors to the world economy,but major contributors to improving environmental health".

    By collaborative work, "we can make a difference,", he said. Enditem