China and the European
Union (EU) will contribute a total of US$17.5 million to
bolster environmental protection, officials said Thursday.
The two entities launched the EU-China Environmental Management
Co-operation Programme Thursday in Beijing, funded by the EU's 13
million euros (US$12.03 million) over the coming four years and
China's 5.9 million euros (US$5.5 million).
The project is one of the biggest co-operation programmes between
EU and China in the environmental management sector and will focus
on technology and management expertise exchanges.
EU
official Jean Marc Riegel said the programme aims to increase
China's planning, enforcement and management capability in
environmental protection.
According to the Sino-EU agreement, the 13 million euros will go to
four institutions. They are the Administrative Centre for China's
Agenda 21, China's International Training Centre for Sustainable
Development, the National Cleaner Production Centre and China's
Centre for Environmental Management Systems.
The joint agreement also declares that the Administrative Centre
for China's Agenda 21, an official institution with years of
environmental protection experience, will mainly oversee the
four-year programme with supervision from the European Commission
and several relevant Chinese government agencies.
The EU has also promised to send long-term consultants and experts
for this programme during the next four years.
Chen Ning, an official with the Ministry of
Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, said Thursday that
China views environmental protection as one of its top two major
issues as written in the country's 10th Five-Year
Plan (2001-05).
The other top issue is poverty alleviation.
(China Daily
09/21/2001)