The scientific development strategy has provided hope for China's sustainable future, said a senior advisor of the United Nations (UN) in Beijing Monday.

Maurice Strong, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General at the Under-Secretary General-level, made the remark in his speech at China's prestigious Peking University.

Also President of the Earth Council, Strong said China's new leadership is bringing the country to a balanced and sound development. In this process, the developed countries should provide China, instead of fear and hostility, a fair trade and power system to integrate the country into the global decision-making system.

"The upcoming 20 years is important for both China and the rest of the world...the world wouldn't achieve sustainable development unless China makes it," said Strong.

According to Strong, land degradation and water pollution are China's biggest challenges.

The statistics show that over one quarter of China's total land is desert and over one third is eroded by acid rain. Also, 41 percent of China's seven major waterways are ranked by the State Environmental Protection Administration as some of the most polluted.

Strong strongly suggested China review current land policies and establish an environment impact assessment system for the super water transfer projects currently under construction.

He also proposed an "Earth Index" system, which will use, beside GDP, social and environmental indexes to evaluate development.

Qu Geping, Strong's co-speaker and chairman of a famous Chinese environmental non-governmental organization, believed that raising energy and resource efficiency is China's most urgent task.

As a former legislator on environmental laws, Qu also said that only institutions, specifically a legal framework, could stop the reckless decisions responsible for building polluting projects.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2004)