A recent research published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that 162,000 tonnes of antibiotics were consumed in China in 2013. That is about half the antibiotics consumed globally. And a lot of these antibiotics are ending up in China's rivers through human and animal waste. Researchers have therefore published a map of rivers which are heavily polluted with antibiotics. Called the "Antibiotics Intensity Map", it shows that the Haihe River Basin in North China and the Pearl River Basin in the south have the highest concentration of antibiotics.

For more, let's speak to our reporter Yin Hang in the studio.

Q1. Yin Hang, tell us more about the research.

In China, antibiotics are consumed by humans and they are also given to animals to improve food production. Eventually, a lot of these antibiotics enter the aquatic environment through bio-waste. So in order to determine the quantity of antibiotics consumed, researchers went to the rivers. A group of researchers under the aegis Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted the first comprehensive evaluation of China's antibiotic use. The research covers all of the country's 58 river basins. The team made an assessment of 36 antibiotics commonly used in China, and seven were found to have a concentration of over 1,000 nanograms per liter in the environment. China lacks standards for antibiotic concentrations in the environment, but experts say 1,000 nanograms per liter is a very, very high number. Look at this map... warmer colors represent higher antibiotics emissions into the river. Geographically, river basins in the north all have higher antibiotic concentrations than those in the south. The Haihe River and the Pearl River are the most severely antibiotics-polluted in China. The researchers also found that antibiotics' presence in densely populated river basins in East China are more than six times higher than those in the west, which are sparsely populated. That indicates that human activities have a huge impact on antibiotic emissions.

Q2. What is the impact of such large amounts of antibiotics being consumed?

Well, Zou Yue, abuse of prescription drugs is still rampant in China. Humans consumed more than 48 percent of the 162,000 tonnes of antibiotics. And this can lead to rising levels of antibiotic resistance in China, most likely causing a health crisis. According to recent research done in the UK, if no efficient solution is found to resolve the problem of antibiotic resistance, an estimated 10 million people globally could die by 2050.  Scientists estimate that in China, that number could be as high as 80,000 people annually. But the government is aware of the problem and more efforts are being made to reduce the abuse of antibiotics. (CCTV)