Beijing ? China should see a “turning point” this year in its pollution problems and likely will meet its clean air and water goals in coming years, an environmental official said Tuesday in an unusually optimistic assessment.

Zhang Lijun, vice minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said that while the amount of ammonia and nitrates in waterways increased in 2006 and overall air quality declined, pollution control facilities and stepped-up enforcement would have an impact.

“It is true that last year the total pollutants discharged was still rising,” Zhang said. But he pointed out that the increase in the amount of pollutants in 2006 was smaller than the increase in the previous year.

“I’m confident that in this year, the total pollutants discharged will come to a turning point,” Zhang said, adding he expected a decrease in the amount of pollutants discharged, although he did not provide a specific figure.

Above, a fisherman smokes a cigarette Monday near fishes killed by severe pollution from factories in a fishery in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province.

China has some of the world’s most polluted cities after more than two decades of high-speed economic growth. The country’s leaders have repeatedly promised a cleanup but say they are constrained by the rapidly expanding economy and a lack of technology.