Pressure on environment to rise
By Richard Fu |
September 1, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA will continue to face pressure on its environment over the next 15 years as its economy continues to grow, an environment ministry official said yesterday.
Though top Chinese leaders have reiterated that economic expansion should not be achieved at the expense of excess consumption of resources which may hurt the environment, the situation takes a turn for the worse when it comes to local governments and individual companies, said Yang Chaofei, the chief of the policy and regulation department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Yang said pollution accidents caused by big companies are a major challenge to environmental protection in China.
His remarks came as several major environmental disasters occurred in China recently, including Zijin Mining Group Co's toxic leakage in Shanghang in Fujian Province and PetroChina Co's oil spill in Dalian in Liaoning Province in July.
These major environmental disasters happened when China surpassed Japan as the world's second-largest economy in the second quarter of this year.
Yang, who spoke at the Changes for the Better City forum hosted by China Business News, said environmental pressure on China will escalate over the next 15 years, citing the rising population, expanding economy and the nation's accelerating pace of urbanization.
He also cautioned that the wide use of new technology and new chemical products could have potential risks to the environment.
China has earmarked binding targets to reduce carbon intensity and energy intensity by closing obsolete plants in a wide range of industries from paper making to ferroalloy.
Though top Chinese leaders have reiterated that economic expansion should not be achieved at the expense of excess consumption of resources which may hurt the environment, the situation takes a turn for the worse when it comes to local governments and individual companies, said Yang Chaofei, the chief of the policy and regulation department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Yang said pollution accidents caused by big companies are a major challenge to environmental protection in China.
His remarks came as several major environmental disasters occurred in China recently, including Zijin Mining Group Co's toxic leakage in Shanghang in Fujian Province and PetroChina Co's oil spill in Dalian in Liaoning Province in July.
These major environmental disasters happened when China surpassed Japan as the world's second-largest economy in the second quarter of this year.
Yang, who spoke at the Changes for the Better City forum hosted by China Business News, said environmental pressure on China will escalate over the next 15 years, citing the rising population, expanding economy and the nation's accelerating pace of urbanization.
He also cautioned that the wide use of new technology and new chemical products could have potential risks to the environment.
China has earmarked binding targets to reduce carbon intensity and energy intensity by closing obsolete plants in a wide range of industries from paper making to ferroalloy.
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