The Chinese government is to introduce a seven-billion-yuan
(US$933 million) reward scheme aimed at encouraging companies
around the country to conserve energy and reduce emissions.
The plan comes as part of a 23.5-billion-yuan package announced
Monday by the Ministry of Finance to promote energy efficiency and
reduce pollution.
Zhang Shaochun, vice minister of finance, said the rewards would
be granted to enterprises that fulfill the requirements in
reduction of emissions and be used to support technical
innovation.
"Instead of giving stipends in advance, we have chosen to
subsidize only enterprises and governments that have made effective
expenditures in energy conservation and reward those that have done
good jobs in this regard," said Zhang.
He said the shift in strategy would help spur the enthusiasm for
energy conservation at grass-roots level.
Another 6.5 billion yuan will be used to build sewerage networks
in central and western cities. Official figures from last year show
one third of China's 660 cities had no sewage plants, while many
pipes were plagued by leakages, resulting in treatment plants
operating under capacity.
Zhang said about two billion yuan would be used to compensate
workers from inefficient enterprises that are closed down such as
small power units and paper mills, and provide them with vocational
training.
Another three billion yuan would be used to improve the
collection of statistics and environment monitoring, while the
remaining five billion yuan would finance treatment of the polluted
Huaihe, Haihe and Liaohe rivers and Taihu, Chaohu and Dianchi
lakes.
Last year's total financial investment in energy conservation and
pollution reduction by the government has not been released.
Zhang said local governments had become increasingly supportive.
Jiangsu Province, for instance, had channeled half its revenue
increment into energy conservation. Shanxi and Shandong provinces
set aside 1.5 billion yuan and 1.2 billion yuan respectively this
year.
He said the government was mulling a much more effective
mechanism that would use market forces to boost grassroots
enthusiasm for energy conservation. Taxation and fees are expected
to have a bigger leverage.
Although China aims to cut energy consumption for every 10,000
yuan (US$1,298) of GDP by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010, with
emissions to drop 10 percent, the targets for 2006 and the first
half of this year were missed by most provinces.
On Friday, the government put in place a system to monitor
nationwide efforts to conserve energy and reduce emissions and
threatened to block the promotion of officials and heads of
state-owned enterprises who failed to meet the targets.
Local authorities would have rules to guide and measure efforts
to meet energy and pollution targets for 2010, said a government
circular.
By setting mandatory targets for officials, the government is
trying to lay the foundation for the "scientific concept on
development" proposed by the central leadership.
The concept advocates a greater emphasis on environment
protection and the interests of the poor, even as it tries to
maintain fast economic growth.
China, the world's fourth largest economy, is consuming its
natural resources at a rate faster than its economic growth. To
produce 5.5 percent of the world's GDP last year, China burned 15
percent of the world's coal consumption, and used 30 percent of the
world's steel and 54 percent of the cement.
(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2007)