(Yicai Global) July 21 -- China will ban the use of fluorescent lamps and batteries made with mercury from 2021, and all domestic mercury mines will be closed by 2032.

These arrangements were made in accordance with the schedule laid out by the United Nations' Minamata Convention on Mercury, which will take effect next month. The convention aims to restrict the production of mercury-containing products and mercury emissions, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The National People's Congress deposited its instrument of ratification to the Minamata Convention on Mercury last year.

China will phase out the production and use of mercury-containing batteries and fluorescent lamp products in 2020. VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) manufacturing enterprises will decrease their per unit use of such products by 50 percent based on 2010 levels.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and relevant departments have revised several mercury-emission-related standards and assessed the status of 10 major mercury-related industries, said Yu Lifeng, deputy director of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Environmental Convention Implementation Technical Center. China's next step will be to reduce the amount of mercury used in related industries, control sources and develop alternative technologies, Yu said.

Mercury can disrupt human physical functions. A mercury contamination incident in Minamata, Japan in the mid-twentieth century caused at least 50,000 people to suffer from brain damage, paralysis, incoherence or delirium.