The State Environmental Protection Administration received
600,000 complaints regarding environmental issues last year, an
increase of 30 percent over the year before, said the
administration's deputy director Pan Yue.
Environmental degradation remains the prominent problem stifling
China's economic and social development, said Pan, adding that
energy consumption and pollution discharge goals were far from
being met.
Last year, China reported 161 pollution accidents last year, or
one every other day. The administration suspended 163 projects that
would damage the environment with a total investment of 770 billion
yuan (US$96 billion).
Many of the projects were highly-polluting and energy-costly,
such as constructions of steel and power plants, Pan said.
The administration on Wednesday also exposed 82 projects that
seriously violated state environment appraisal standards.
These projects, involving 112.3 billion yuan (14 billion U.S.
dollars) of investment, covered 12 industries, including steel,
power and chemical plants, in 22 provinces and regions
nationwide.
"Some of the projects did not apply for government approval
before beginning construction, and some local governments provided
highly-polluting enterprises asylum in the blind pursuit of
economic development," Pan said.
He noted that some enterprises had promised to cut pollution and
energy consumption when their projects were banned by the
administration, but later failed to do as promised when local
governments loosened control.
Pan said the administration still want to see results from these
enterprises and plans to conduct a follow-up to make sure they've
cleaned up their act.
The administration also decided to tighten approval of
construction projects in four highly-polluted cities -- Tangshan
City of Hebei Province, Luliang City of Shanxi Province, Liupanshui
City of Guizhou Province and Laiwu City of Shandong Province.
"The environment in these cities can not endure more
highly-polluting industries," Pan said.
Tangshan now has 70 small-sized steel companies, 80 percent of
which never applied for approval from the administration, and local
governments are reluctant to sacrifice economic returns by shutting
down the polluting companies, Pan said.
Environmental pollution caused 511.8 billion yuan (about US$64
billion) in economic losses in 2004, amounting to 3.05 percent of
GDP that year, according to government research released last
September.
China has set a goal of reducing the emissions of major
pollutants by 10 percent during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010)
period. To reach this goal, the Chinese government proposed the
concept of a "green GDP" and ordered local governments to develop
their regional economies in line with the standards of "green
GDP".
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)
