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Export to China Impact Analysis & Statistics of Environmental Products for US small & medium business
Ø Export Impact Analysis
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Export Impact Analysis &
Statistics of Environmental Products for US small & medium business,
US
exporters are guided to take advantages of technology strength, increase
export of environment protection and environment friendly products to the
growing China market and stay at the higher end of the chain.
o
Catch the great opportunity. There is a
huge demand for the environment protection and environment friendly
commodities from China. For example, China needs to import around 0.5 million
tons for high effective low toxic pesticides only in the next 5 to 10
years.
o
Catch the time. There is no doubt that in
the long term the environment friendly products will prevail. By starting
now, US small & medium business will put them in the leadership space to
reap from the growing China market while offer mutual benefit to China.
o
An opportunity nobody can afford to lose. Missing the
opportunity means losing the market of millions or billions of dollars,
which will cost tens of thousands of American jobs.
China is a developing country. Now it is confronted with the dual task of
developing the economy and protecting the environment. Proceeding from its
national conditions, China has, in the process of promoting its overall
modernization program, made environmental protection one of its basic national
policies, regarded the realization of sustainable development as an important
strategy and carried out throughout the country large-scale measures for
pollution prevention and control as well as ecological environment protection.
Over the 18 years since its adoption of reform and opening to the outside world,
China's gross national product (GNP) has achieved a sustained annual growth of
around 10 percent, while its environmental quality has basically steered clear
of the outcome of corresponding deterioration. Practice has proved that the
principle adopted by China of effecting coordinated development between the
economy, the society and the environment has been effective.
As a member of the international community, China, while making great efforts to
protect its own environment, has taken an active part in international
environmental affairs, striven to promote international cooperation in the field
of environmental protection, and earnestly fulfilled its international
obligations. All these have given full expression to the sincerity
The Prevention and Control of
Industrial Pollution and the Comprehensive Improvement of the Urban Environment
The Chinese government regards prevention and control of industrial pollution as
the focal point of environmental protection. Thanks to unremitting efforts over
the past 20-odd years, China has made great progress in this regard.
-- Changes in the strategy for the prevention and control of industrial
pollution have been effected. In the 1970s efforts to prevent and control
industrial pollution in China mainly concentrated on the control of point
sources. In the 1980s China carried out prevention and control of industrial
pollution in a comprehensive way through the readjustment of irrational
industrial distribution, the overall industrial structure and the product mix in
combination with technical transformation, strengthened environmental management
and other policies and measures. In the course of founding the socialist market
economic system in the 1990s China has changed its traditional development
strategy, promoted clean production and embarked on the sustainable development
road. In guiding concept for the prevention and control of industrial pollution,
''three changes'' have been decided upon, i.e., regarding basic strategy, China
will gradually change its strategy of end-of-pipe pollution control into
pollution control during the whole process of industrial production; with
respect to the control of pollutant discharge, concentration control will be
replaced by a combination of the control of concentration and that of total
quantity; and with regard to pollution control methods, focus on the control of
scattered point sources will be replaced by a combination of centralized and
scattered controls.
-- Policy and legislation for preventing and controlling industrial pollution
have taken initial shape as a coherent system. In order to effectively prevent
and control industrial pollution, the Chinese government has drawn up three
major policies for environmental protection, i.e., ''putting prevention first
and combining prevention with control,'' ''making the causer of pollution
responsible for treating it'' and ''intensifying environmental management.'' In
addition, it has drawn up the policy on the comprehensive utilization of
resources, the policy on preventing and controlling industrial pollution in
combination with technical transformation, the policy on over"iall
improvement of the urban environment, the policy on environmental protection
technology, and the policy on environmental protection industries. The laws and
regulations on environmental protection that have been promulgated include
explicit provisions on the prevention and control of industrial pollution. Local
governments at all levels have worked out local policies on the prevention and
control of industrial pollution in accordance with their actual conditions.
-- Enterprise environment supervision and management have been reinforced. The
Chinese government has promoted the enforcement of the environmental impact
assessment system and the ''three-at-the-same-time'' system (i.e., facilities
for preventing and controlling environmental pollution and destruction shall be
planned, constructed and put into use at the same time as the main production
projects). These steps have played remarkable roles in controlling new pollution
sources. The nation's environmental impact assessment rate of construction
projects above the county level and the implementation rate of the
three-at-the-same-time'' system have reached, respectively, 60.8 percent and
87.3 percent. By the end of 1995, 480 cities and 77,000 enterprises had made
pollution discharge declarations and registrations; 240 cities had issued a
total of 16,000 pollutant discharge licences to 14,000 enterprises. Since 1979
China has collected 24.7 billion yuan in pollutant discharge fees.
-- Measures for preventing and controlling industrial pollution have gradually
been perfected. First, China has completed a great number of pollution-control
projects through the readjustment of the industrial structure and product mix,
and promoted clean production through technical transformation. Chemical,
metallurgical, light, machine-building, power and construction materials
industries have actively adopted clean production, speeded up technical
transformation and firmly eliminated a large amount of equipment and products
characterized by heavy pollution and high consumption of energy and materials.
Consequently, industrial production has increased for several years running, the
discharge of pollutants has declined steadily and the economic returns of
enterprises have gone up year by year. The Jilin Chemical Industrial Company is
an old enterprise, but for many years it has relied on progress in science and
technology to carry out technical transformation of its production equipment
which used to cause a serious waste of resources and produced a large amount of
pollution. As a result, it has fundamentally eliminated pollution from various
chemicals. Second, in combination with the comprehensive improvement of the
urban environment and regional reconstruction, a number of enterprises featured
by heavy pollution have been closed down, moved away or otherwise put under
control, thus alleviating the trend of pollution in some regions. The Beijing
Municipal Government closed down the heavily polluting south section of the
Special Steel Factory of the Capital Iron and Steel Company, eliminating a large
pollution source in the city proper. Shanghai has strengthened the prevention
and control of pollution in the upper reaches of the Suzhou and Huangpu rivers
and in major urban districts, so that pollution in some of the districts has
been brought under control. Third, the dynamics of setting deadlines for
eliminating pollution have been reinforced. Since 1978 the Chinese government
has announced two groups of scheduled pollution-control projects, totaling 367,
and local governments have designated 220,000 pollution-control projects, which
have basically been completed. Fourth, the prevention and control of pollution
is developing toward regional and river valley comprehensive improvement. Since
the late 1980s the Chinese government has adopted measures to comprehensively
alleviate air pollution in Benxi and Baotou cities, and water pollution in the
Baiyangdian Lake and Huaihe River drainage basins. In 1995 the Chinese
government promulgated the Pro"ivisional Regulations on the Prevention and
Control of Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Drainage Area, and the work is
being actively carried out in accordance with the plan. Fifth, efforts have been
stepped up to save energy and reduce consumption. The capability to treat waste
gas, waste water and industrial residue (the ''three wastes'') has been enhanced
and the comprehensive utilization rate of these materials has been increased.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period (1991-95) energy consumption for every
ten thousand yuan worth of the gross domestic product (GDP) decreased from 5.3
tons of the standard coal in 1990 to 3.94 tons in 1995, saving a grand total of
358 million tons of the standard coal, or an annual averge economization rate of
5.8 percent. In 1995 the waste water treatment rate of the industrial
enterprises above the county level all over the country reached 76.8 percent;
the smoke and dust removal rate of waste gas from burning fuel, 88.2 percent;
waste gas purification rate from production processes, 68.9 percent; and the
comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid waste, 43 percent. Output
value attained through the comprehensive utilization of the industrial ''three
wastes'' came to 19 billion yuan. Starting in 1983, Li Shuang"iliang, a
retired worker of the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company, and 20 other retired
workers spent 10 years removing a huge slag heap, thus eliminating a serious,
long-standing pollution source of the Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company. The slag
was utilized in a comprehensive way, with 900,000 tons of waste iron and steel
worth 160 million yuan recovered.
China is a country with coal as its main energy source. Seventy percent of the
smoke and dust in the air and 90 percent of the sulfur dioxide emission come
from burning coal. As a result, the cities with concentrated industries and
populations suffer from serious air pollution. Acid rain has occurred, and the
situation has gone from bad to worse in some regions and cities. The Chinese
government has adopted some measures, such as developing clean coal technology
and clean-combustion technology, and collecting sulfur dioxide emission fees, to
control acid rain. A long-term study by Chinese experts on the issue of acid
rain proves that the precursors of acid rain generated from the emission source
in Chinese mainland are mainly transported within Chinese territory, and the
acid rain is mainly in the areas south of the Yangtze River, in regions east of
the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and in the Sichuan Basin.
Like other developing countries, China's per capita energy consumption level and
the emitted sulfur dioxide are much lower than the world average level at
present, and it will remain so by the end of this century. According to the
Framework Convention on Climatic Changes, China is under no specific obligation
to limit the emission of carbon dioxide. However, mindful of its responsibility
for protection of the global climate, China follows the principle of attaching
equal importance to economization on energy and expansion of the energy
industry, striving to raise its energy utilization efficiency and to readjust
its energy structure. While appropriately developing nuclear power, China spares
no effort to develop hydroelectric power and to strengthen research into and
exploitation of geothermal power, solar energy, wind energy, oceanic energy and
other new energy sources, so as to reduce the green-house gas emission.
Since the initiation of the policies of reform and opening to the outside world,
China's GNP has quadrupled, but the growth of the emission of pollutants is
clearly slower than the economic growth. Some environmental quality indices of
some regions and cities have basically remained stable, and some localities have
made improvements to a certain extent. In spite of this, China's
industrialization is still in the primary stage of development, with a low level
of modernized management. Its industrial distribution and structure need to be
further readjusted. With comparatively backward equipment and production
technology, the pre"ivention and control of industrial pollution remain an
arduous task of environmental protection in China.
The Chinese government has always considered the cities as key points in
environmental protection work. In the past 10-odd years China has speeded up
urbanization. In 1980 the urban population in China totaled 191.4 million, a
figure which rose to 351.71 million in 1995. In 1980 China had 223
administratively designated cities, which went up to 640 in 1995. The
urbanization level increased from 19.39 percent in 1980 to 28.85 percent in
1995. Just like other countries, the issue of environmental pollution has also
appeared in the course of China's urbanization. Therefore the Chinese government
has adopted effective measures to control environmental pollution and done its
best to improve the quality of the urban environment.
-- Drawing up overall city plans and readjusting the layout of urban functions.
By the end of 1995 each of the 640 cities in China had worked out its own
overall city plan. So had each of the 31,559 administratively designated towns.
In accordance with the Law on City Planning, while working out an overall city
plan, the city must include in the plan details of environmental protection,
such as protecting and improving the city's ecological environment, and
preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards. In light of the
requirements of the overall planning, many cities, while transforming the old
areas and developing new ones, have, in accordance with the city's function
zoning, readjusted the industrial layout, strengthened the prevention and
control of industrial pollution, changed the situation in which factories and
residents share the same areas, controlled urban environmental pollution caused
by production and in people's daily lives, and constructed a large number of
residential quarters with reasonable layout and complete social services. In
addition, China has designated 52 key environmental protection cities, and put
99 leading national-level historical and cultural cities under special
protection.
-- Strengthening the construction of infrastructure and improving the capability
to prevent and control pollution. At present, 68.4 percent of urban residents in
China use gas for fuel and heating; the centralized disposal rate of urban
sewage is 20 percent; the innocurity rate of urban garbage and fecal disposal is
45.4 percent; and the afforestation rate is 23.8 percent. In 1994 Beijing
invested 15.13 billion yuan in the construction of urban infrastructure, of
which over five billion yuan was used to construct environmental improvement
facilities. It built the Gaobeidian Sewage Treatment Plant, with a daily
handling capacity of 500,000 tons, and the large-scale Datun Garbage Transfer
Station and Ahsuwei sanitary landll, thus greatly improving Beijing's
environment overall.
-- Comprehensive improvement of the urban environment and improving the quality
of the urban environment. Since 1989 the Chinese government has promoted the
urban environment comprehensive improvement examination system throughout the
country. The state and the governments at the provincial level have carried out
examinations in 37 key cities and other 330-plus cities. The implementation of
this system has enhanced the sense of responsibility of leaders at all levels
for urban environmental protection, and such examinations have been included in
the governments' work agendas. Hence a management system and operation mechanism
for the comprehensive improvement of the urban environment under the unified
leadership of mayors, carried out by different departments according to their
respective divisions of responsibility and actively participated in by the broad
masses of the people have taken initial shape. All cities in China have
increased their investment in environmental improvement and speeded up relevant
construction. Obvious results have been achieved. By 1995 China had constructed
11,333 sq km of smoke-and-dust control zones, and 1,800 sq km of up-to-standard
noise-control zones, and increased public lawns by 490 million square meters. A
large number of urban waterways, such as the Zhongdong River in Hangzhou, the
Funan River in Chengdu, the Haihe River in Tianjin, the Suzhou River in
Shanghai, the Qinhuai River in Nanjing and the Haohe River in Nantong, have been
cleaned up on a large scale. Hence, the urban water environment has been
improved.
Thanks to comprehensive urban environmental improvement and ecological
construction, Benxi City in Liaoning Province has cleared up 21 ''smoke
dragons,'' 17 polluted springs and two mounds of industrial residue which were
notorious sources of pollution. It has also constructed a round-the-city forest
park with an area of 220 sq km. Consequently, Benxi, which used to be known as
one of ''the cities on earth which could not be seen from a satellite'' because
of air pollution, has made a remarkable improvement in its environment.
Territorial Control and Rural
Environmental Protection
Territorial control forms part of China's work in implementing the sustainable
development strategy. Since the start of the reform and opening-up era, the
Chinese government has carried out territorial control on a large scale.
-- New progress has been made in territorial control planning. In this work the
Chinese government has formulated a sequence of national, trans-provincial and
key-regional territorial control plans, such as the National Program for Overall
Land Use Planning, the National Program for Afforestation, the National Plan for
Marine Development, the National Program for Water and Soil Conservation, the
Comprehensive Plan for China's Seven Major River Valleys, the Plan for Economic
Development in the Three Gorges Area, the Economic Plan for the Yangtze River
Delta and Areas Along the River, Key Points of the Economic Plan for
Northwestern Areas, and the Resources Development and Environment Protection
Plan for the Juncture of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia. Some provinces and
cities have also drawn up or revised local territorial control plans and the
overall plan for land use. By the end of 1995 the overall plan for land use had
been 60 percent completed at the provincial level, 69 percent at the city (prefectural)
level and 63 percent at the county level.
-- Many achievements have been made in research on territorial control. To help
formulate the Ninth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development
and the Outline of the Long-Term Target for the Year 2010, the Chinese
government, proceeding from realizing coordination and sustainable development
of the economy, society, population, resources and environment, has organized
research on vital issues such as the development of territorial resources and
environmental control, the overall plan for the national territory, and how well
mineral resources can satisfy the demands of the national economy. It has also
completed the Major Issues on the Development of National Territorial Resources
and Environmental Control During 1996-2010 and other research reports on special
subjects. The government has laid down the overall framework of optimizing the
development and control of territorial resources, the regional development
strategy and distribution of territorial resources exploitation, as well as the
targets and measures of territorial control and environmental protection.
Notable successes have been attained in the harnessing of main rivers and lakes.
Since the foundation of New China in 1949 the Chinese government has taken
comprehensive exploitation and control of major rivers and lakes, with emphasis
on the prevention and control of flood and waterlogging, as an important task of
water conservancy construction. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, on the
middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the lower reaches of the Yellow
River, and on the Huaihe, Haihe, Songhua and Liaohe rivers and Lake Taihu, the
main dikes were heightened and reinforced, waterways were cleaned up, and flood
diversion projects were built. The construction of a group of key projects for
water control and other uses were completed or started. To compensate for lack
of water resources in northern areas, the Chinese government vigorously promoted
the planning and construction of water-diversion projects between different
drainage basins. In November 1995 it sponsored an overall feasibility study of
the middle, eastern and western lines projects for diverting water from south to
north.
The Three Gorges Project is a gigantic, trans-century project for harnessing and
developing the Yangtze River. When it is completed, floods on the upper reaches
will be effectively controlled and areas on the middle and lower reaches will be
able to improve their anti-flood capability, thus lessening the harmful effects
on the ecological environment. Hydroelectricity, which will be the energy
discharged by the project, causes much less pollution than coal-burning power
plants. The government has organized experts to work out the Report on the
Impact of the Three Gorges Project on the Ecology and Environment, and
Countermeasures, and has approved the Environmental Impact Statement of the
Three Gorges Project. The government will adopt a sequence of measures to
minimize the unfavorable effects on the ecology and the environment that could
be caused by the Three Gorges Project.
-- Land preservation, exploitation and control have been promoted on a full
scale. In order to put cultivated land under proper protection, basic farmland
preservation areas have been delimited all over the country, in accordance with
the Regulations on the Protection of Basic Farmland. By the end of 1995, 2,100
units at the county level had finished the work, with well over 70 percent of
farmland put under effectual protection. Planned management of the land to be
used for construction has been strengthened, putting the total area and makeup
of such land under proper control. Random occupation of farmland has been curbed
to some extent. In 1995, farmland used for construction was 20.8 percent less
than the previous year. In recent years, the government has formulated the Key
Points of National Planning for Desertication Control During 1991-2000 to speed
up the desertification prevention and control project. It is planned that 6.667
million hectares of desertified land will be treated over ten years. The
development of 20 key counties, nine experimental areas and 22 demonstration
bases of the national desertification prevention and control project has been
brought into line with the development plan of the national economy. During the
Eighth Five-Year Plan period 3.759 million hectares of desertified land were
tackled in a comprehensive way. The Chinese government also devotes much
attention to water and soil conservation. It has effectively prevented soil
erosion and improved the ecological environment and agricultural conditions. At
present, 25 key soil erosion control areas have been established at the national
level. Water and soil conservation projects are carried out in seven big river
valleys. In more than 10,000 small river valleys with serious soil erosion,
problems concerning mountains, rivers, farmland and forests are tackled in a
comprehensive way. Soil erosion has been checked in a total area of 67 million
hectares, and a great number of water and soil conservation projects have been
completed, making eroded soil decrease by 1.1 billion tons every year and water
conservation capacity increase by 18 billion cubic meters. In the comprehensive
soil erosion control area in the Loess Plateau, a total of 15 million hectares
of land have been treated -- 30 percent of the soil erosion area -- with over
300 million tons less silt flowing into the Yellow River every year. Since the
publication of the Regulations on Land Reclamation, most of the provinces and
cities have worked out procedures for implementation of these regulations and
some dozen provinces and autonomous regions have put into effect procedures for
raising funds for land reclamation and for the use and administration of these
funds. As a result, remarkable progress has been made in the country's
reclamation of discarded land. From 1987 to 1995 a total of about 3.5 million
hectares of land were reclaimed, among which 600,000 hectares had been waste
land. In 1989 the experimental work of land reclamation was carried out in major
mineral-producing provinces. In 1995 construction of three national-level
reclamation demonstration zones was started in sunken areas of coalfields, while
the national reclamation technical standards were stipulated. Tongshan County in
Jiangsu Province invested 56 million yuan to reclaim 6,600 hectares of land,
basically balancing land reclamation with land use.
-- The ability to combat natural disasters has been improved. The Chinese people
have accumulated abundant experience in their protracted struggles against
natural disasters, in which they laid down principles like ''putting prevention
first and combining prevention and control,'' and ''combining pre"ivention
and rescue.'' A working system has been primarily established to avert all kinds
of natural disasters, and a contingent of experienced scientists and researchers
of various disciplines has been organized and monitoring stations and networks
for main natural disasters have taken initial shape.
China has traditionally been an agricultural country. In developing agricultural
production, the government attaches great importance to rural environmental
protection.
-- Achievements have been made in eco-agriculture. The government has taken the
development of eco-agriculture as an important means to realize the coordinated
development of the environment and the economy. At present, the 50
eco-agricultural experimental counties designated by the state are playing
positive and exemplary roles in the country, spurring development of
eco-agriculture in 10 prefectures and over 100 counties. According to
statistics, the total output of grain of the experimental counties has increased
by 15 percent, output per mu by upwards of 10 percent, and the income per capita
is 12 percent higher than the average level of the surrounding areas. The
practice of eco-agriculture has brought about striking improvements in the
agricultural ecological environment -- barren hills greened, forest acreage
greatly raised, soil erosion controlled to some extent, organic matter content
of the soil increased, and the ability of the agricultural ecological system to
ward off natural disasters improved. In the meantime, in order to promote
regional sustainable development, construction of some 100 ecological
demonstration areas, mainly at the county level, has been started in an
all-round way.
-- Further development of rural energy construction. Energy construction in
rural areas is an important measure for protecting and improving the rural
ecological environment. In 1991 comprehensive energy construction in rural areas
was started in 100 counties. As a result, a capacity equivalent to 10.8 million
tons more of standard coal was added every year and 11.37 million tons were
saved. In 1995 fuel-saving stoves, methane, solar, wind and geothermal energy
sources and small hydropower stations began to develop and were popularized in
rural areas throughout the country. In this way, annually 80 million tons of
standard coal equivalent can be saved and additionally produced.
Methane-generating pits for agricultural use were dug to benefit 5.69 million
households and fuel-saving stoves were in use in 170 million households.
-- Pollution prevention and control in township enterprises have been
strengthened. Township enterprises are a strong mainstay of the Chinese rural
economy and an important sector of the national economy. Because of their rapid
development, the environmental problems they caused attracted the serious
attention of the Chinese government and people. In the past decade,
environmental management and pollution prevention and control in township
enterprises have made some progress. In areas along the eastern coast, the
technical and equipment levels of township enterprises have been gradually
raised. Centralized pollution control has been carried out, along with
construction of small towns, township enterprises zones and economic development
zones. All these steps have seen certain outcomes. Zhangjiagang City in Jiangsu
Province is spurring its economy to develop rapidly while paying due attention
to prevention of environmental pollution by township enterprises. It has thus
realized a coordinated development of both the environment and the economy. In
the central and western areas township enterprises have been actively guided,
aided and supervised to prevent environmental pollution spreading. It should be
pointed out that environmental protection in areas of township enterprises is
still an arduous task, and that the government will keep guiding them to develop
in a healthy way, preventing and alleviating environmental pollution through
reinforced environmental management.
-- Development of green and organic foods is welcomed. In order to meet the
people's increasing demands for high-quality food, and to protect agricultural
natural resources and the ecological environment, relevant departments began in
1990 to develop ''green food,'' featuring pollution-free, safe, high-quality and
nutritious contents. By the end of 1995 a total of 568 sorts of green food had
been developed, many of them becoming well-known products. Since the start of
the development of green food, 1.13 million hectares of land have been well
protected. In 1995 a government department published the Procedures on the
Administration of Organic (Natural) Food Labelling. Organic (natural) food
unpolluted by chemical fertilizers and farm chemicals has now appeared in China.
Protection of the Ecological
Environment and Biodiversity
The Chinese government regards ecological environmental protection as the focal
point of its environmental protection work. Through protracted efforts the
country has made outstanding achievements in the protection and nurturing of the
ecological environment.
-- Achievements have been made in afforestation. Since the 1950s the Chinese
government has organized large-scale tree planting activities and stepped up
efforts for the fostering, protection and management of forest resources and
consequently has made great progress in rational utilization of forest
resources. Since the reform and opening up the afforestation efforts have been
quickened, with the quantity increased annually and the quality improved
continuously, thus basically eliminating the deficit in forest reserves which
had existed for a long period, while the growth of forests has begun to exceed
consumption. As a result, the era of increase both in forest acreage and reserve
has dawned on the country. Currently, China's forest area totals 134 million
hectares, which brings the country's forest cover up to 13.92 percent.
Artificial afforestation covers 33.79 million hectares. Volunteers have
contributed a total of 4.4 billion person-times to planting 23 billion trees.
Once-barren mountains suitable for tree planting in 12 provinces and autonomous
regions are now clothed with greenery.
The government has paid special attention to the construction of forest
ecological projects. Since 1978 China has established ten forest ecological
projects, with a scheduled afforestation area of 120 million hectares -- aimed
mainly at protecting and improving the natural eco-environment and realizing the
sustainable use of natural resources. These projects are: the ''three norths''
shelterbelts (the western area of Northeast, and the northern parts of North and
Northwest China), the shelterbelts along the upper and middle reaches of the
Yangtze River, the coastal shelterbelts, the plain farmland shelterbelts, the
Taihang Mountains afforestation project, the anti-desertification project, the
shelterbelts for comprehensive control in the Huaihe River and Taihu Lake
basins, the shelterbelts for comprehensive control in the Pearl River basin, the
shelterbelts for comprehensive control in the Liaohe River basin, and the
shelterbelts along the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Currently, the
''three norths'' shelterbelts project has finished its first and second phases,
resulting in a newly afforested area of 18.51 million hectares and increasing
the forest cover from 5.05 to 8.2 percent. This project has turned more than
40,000 sq km of barren land into green land and more than 1.3 million hectares
of desert land into farmland, pastures and orchards. Twelve percent of the total
desertified land has been worked on, and 10 percent of it has been brought under
control, more than 11 million hectares of farmland have been protected by forest
networks, while 8.93 million hectares of grassland have been restored, resulting
in a 20-odd percent increase in grass output. The agricultural eco-environment
in one third of the counties covered by the ''three norths'' project has entered
a benign circle. The shelterbelts project along the upper and middle reaches of
the Yangtze River has yielded a total of more than 5.46 million hectares of
newly planted forest in seven years. A grand total of 1.6 million hectares of
forest has appeared since coastal shelterbelts project was launched in an
all-round way in 1991, which basically covers the 18,000-kilometer-long
coastline. A total of 769 counties or cities covered by the plain farmland
shelterbelts have reached their tree-planting goals, accounting for 84 percent
of the total 918 counties in the plain areas. The Taihang Mountains
afforestation project has already produced a total of 1.02 million hectares of
afforested area since it was launched in 1994. The above large-scale eco-system
construction projects have gradually improved the eco-environment in a
considerable number of areas.
-- Grassland construction has made progress in the phasal sense. The protection
and management of grassland resources is reinforced by governments at all levels
in line with the Grassland Law, and activities such as unauthorized reclamation,
excessive digging and overgrazing are forbidden. With the combined efforts of
the state, the collective and individ"iuals, grassland construction and
control over grassland desertification and deterioration have been strengthened.
According to statistics, the total area of artificially sown grass and improved
meadows has reached 11.757 million hectares, and that of fenced meadows, 8.333
million hectares. The 49 key comprehensive demonstration projects for grassland
stockbreeding constructed by the state have made great achievements. By the end
of 1994 a total of 5.638 million hectares of artificially sown grass had been
completed, which has blazed a new trail for developing animal husbandry and
ecological environmental protection in the areas with arid and desertified land
and those with serious soil erosion.
-- Marine environmental protection has been strengthened. Marine environmental
protection is a major component of China's environmental protection efforts, as
the country has a vast maritime territory. A series of laws and regulations
concerning marine environmental protection has been published, and a nationwide
marine environment monitoring network has been set up. Coastal waters have been
divided up into zones for administration and effective environmental management
is practiced for offshore construction projects, offshore petroleum exploitation
and wastes disposal so that marine pollution and resources destruction are taken
well in hand, and efforts have been made to prevent ''red tide'' and protect
offshore fishery resources. By the end of 1995 14 national-level marine nature
reserves had been set up. The water quality in most of China's maritime zones
and the surrounding ecological environment have been basically kept in good
condition.
The Chinese government has for a long time made unremitting efforts for
biodiversity conservation, formulating the China Program for Nature Conservation
and China's Action Plan for the Conservation of Biodiversi"ity, containing
the policy, strategy and key fields and priority projects for biodiversity
conservation.
China has adopted the on-site conservation and off-site preservation methods to
protect biodiversity. Currently, there are 612 national-level rare and
endangered species of flora and fauna listed as key protection species,
including 258 species of wild animals and 354 species of plants. Artificial
reproduction has been successfully implemented for more than 60 species of rare
and endangered wild animals, and through propagation, such species as David's
deer, wild horse and saiga tatarica have been re-introduced.
Establishing nature reserves is the most effective method for the in situ
conservation of wild plants and animals. By the end of 1995 799 nature reserves
of rather diversified types, covering a total area of 71.85 million hectares (or
7.19 percent of China's territory) had been established in China. There are 99
national-level reserves, of which ten -- Jilin's Changbai Mountains, Sichuan's
Wolong, Guizhou's Fanjing Mountains, Hubei's Shennongjia, Fujian's Wuyi
Mountains, Xinjiang's Mt. Bogda, Guangdong's Dinghu Mountains, Inner Mongolia's
Xilingol, Jiangsu's Yancheng and Yunnan's Xishuangbanna -- have been listed in
the International Network of Men and Biosphere Reserves. Another six nature
reserves -- Zhalong in Heilongjiang, Xianghai in Jilin, Boyang Lake in Jiangxi,
East Dongting Lake in Hunan, Bird Island in Qinghai and Dongzhai Harbor in
Hainan -- have been included in the list of the world's important wetlands. At
present, a total of 512 historic and scenic sites has been designated, of which
119 are at the national level, 256 at the provincial level and 137 at the city
or county level, covering a total area of 9.6 million hectares. Forest parks
total 710, of which 248 are at the national level. Scenic spots at Huangshan
Mountain, Wulingyuan, Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong are listed as parts of the world
natural and cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization. The establishment of nature reserves has put a number of
representative and typical natural eco-systems with scientific research value as
well as rare and endangered species under effective protection.
Establishing zoological gardens, botanical gardens and various artificial
breeding centers is an effective method for off-site preservation of various
species of wild animals and plants. By the end of 1995 China had set up 175
zoological gardens and zoological exhibition sites in public parks, 227
artificial breeding centers for wild animals, more than 60 large botanical
gardens and 255 wild plant gene and cell banks to ensure the continuation of
rare and endangered species of plants and animals, including the giant panda,
Chinese alligator, Chinese sturgeon, white-flag dolphin, Manchurian tiger,
crested ibis, Cathay silver fir, dovetree, Cycas revoluta and camellia
chrysantha tuyama. In addition, China has established some dozen specimen
centers, one gene bank and two cell banks for wild animals, which have helped
genetic polymorphism research and preservation work. The medicinal use of and
trade in rhinoceros horn and tigerbone are strictly prohibited by the
government, and the illegal hunting of rare wild animals is severely punished by
law.
The government has placed much stress on the preservation of the genetic
materials from domestic animals and fowls, as well as germ plasma resources from
crops. There are 596 species of livestock and poultry in China, of which over 70
percent are native species. The government has appropriated special funds for
preservation of some endangered or sharply diminishing species of livestock and
poultry and established a germ plasma gene bank for livestock forage grass.
China had initially formed a preservation system for germ plasma resources from
crops, including one national germ plasma bank for long-term preservation and a
duplicate one, 23 local germ plasma banks for mid-term preservation, and 25
national germ plasma nurseries, of which two are for test-tube culture. The germ
plasma resources of most agricultural plants in China are preserved, including
330,000 specimens of germ plasma for various species of crops, of which 300,000
have duplicates.
The government also attaches great importance to the environmental protection of
the Tibet Autonomous Region. The environmental quality in Tibet today has been
kept in an excellent condition. The atmospheric environment there has attained
the state's first-level quality and the water quality of major rivers and lakes
is also higher than the national standard for the surface waters environmental
quality. Forests and grasslands are under effective preservation. The forest
area in Tibet totals 7.17 million hectares and the stumpage, 2.084 billion cubic
meters. The total grassland area amounts to 82.07 million hectares, of which
70.77 million hectares are usable. With an elevation of 4,700 meters, Namco Lake
has become a natural habitat for rare water birds like swans, egrets and sand
birds.
Viewed overall, however, many problems still exist -- the shortage of the forest
area, grassland degradation, soil erosion, desertification and difficulties in
the protection of rare and endangered species of wild animals and plants. Thus,
the further strengthening of the preservation of the ecological environment and
biodiversity remains an important task for the Chinese government to tackle.
Environmental Science and Technology,
and Environmental Publicity and Education
Through adopting the strategy of ''relying on science and education to
rejuvenate the nation,'' China has made certain achievements in actively
accelerating the development of environmental science and technology, as
follows:
-- The research spectrum of environmental science and technology has been
steadily broadened. Research into environmental science and technology in China
began in the 1970s. As an important part of scientific and technological work,
it is put in a position of importance by the government. For some major
environmental research subjects the Chinese government has formulated
corresponding research programs and plans for environmental protection while
organizing forces to tackle key scientific and technological problems. Besides,
China has expanded its research into comprehensive prevention and control of
regional environmental pollution, environmental background values and
environmental capacity, pollution control technology and global environmental
problems. As a result, the country has made substantial scientific and
technological achievements in some research areas, such as the comprehensive
prevention and control of Beijing's environmental pollution, the capacity of the
atmospheric environment, the background value and environmental capacity of the
nation's major soils, acid deposition and its impact and control, the
forecasting and monitoring of the influence of the changes in the global climate
and corresponding countermeasures, the depollution of coal, and the control of
air pollution. China has also developed research in such fields as regional
environ"imen tal impact assessment, environmental management and
environmental economy, environmental monitoring technology and equipment, the
protection of natural ecology, and the relationship between the environment and
people's health. This provides scientific basis and technological support for
environmental management, the prevention and control of pollution, and
ecological protection.
-- The numbers of research institutes and personnel engaged in environmental
protection have been steadily increased. By the end of 1995 some 390 scientific
research bodies engaged in environmental protection had been established
nationwide, staffed by more than 20,000 research and managerial personnel. A
comprehensive scientific research system composed of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, competent departments of different trades, colleges and universities,
and the environmental protection departments is basically in place.
-- Work regarding the screening, evaluation and popularization of the optimum
and practical technology for environmental protection has been organized. The
popularization of the optimum and practical technology is an important measure
to expedite the transformation of environmental scientific and technological
achievements into the capability of actual pollution prevention and control.
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, 1,316 kinds of practical technology
were recommended nationwide, and 438 of them were appraised as the optimum items
of practical technology. Among them, 385 kinds have been put into use in 140,000
units, resulting in reduced emission of the ''three wastes'' and excellent
economic returns.
-- The development of the environmental protection industry has been fostered.
This newly emerging industry involves the development of technology,
manufacturing of products, circulation of commodities, utilization of resources,
provision of information, and undertaking of contracted projects. China gives
priority to the development of the environmental protection industry, with the
guidelines of ''actively fostering, adjusting the structure, relying on science
and technology, improving quality, orienting to the market and providing
excellent services.'' Preferential policies are given to investment, prices,
taxes, etc., to encourage the development of the environmental protection
industry. A general survey of the nation's environmental protection industry,
the results of which were made public in May 1996, shows that there are 8,651
units engaged in the environmental protection industry, which is staffed by
1.882 million people and boasts 45.011 billion yuan worth of fixed assets, an
annual output value of 31.148 billion yuan and 4.091 billion yuan in profits.
-- The development of environmental labels has entered the stage of
implementation. In March 1993 China began to carry out a plan for environment
labelling. By April 1996 the environmental label certification work had been
developed in 11 categories of products, and 35 kinds of products from 21
enterprises had been awarded environmental labels. As the environmentally-labelled
products enter millions of households the environmental label will exert a
growing influence in society.
The Chinese government regards it a strategic task to actively develop
environmental publicity and education and to raise the nation's consciousness
about the importance of environmental protection.
-- China strives to popularize environmental protection knowledge among the
people and raise their consciousness about environmental protection and
gradually to cultivate fine environmental ethics and codes of conduct. As early
as in the 1970s, popular science textbooks on environmental protection were
compiled or translated into Chinese to widely introduce environmental protection
knowledge and enlighten the people on such knowledge. Since the 1980s
large-scale publicity activities have been organized all over the country every
year on World Environment Day, Tree Planting Day, Love the Birds Week, etc. In
recent years the Chinese media has been further promoting publicity and reports
on environmental protection. Virtually all newspapers, radio and TV stations
frequently offer environmental protection programs, and, in particular, the
media pays special attention to severely polluted areas and units. Since 1993
the media's ''China Trans-century Environmental Protection Inspection
Campaign,'' centered on news about environmental law enforcement, has aroused a
nationwide responce and accelerated the solution to a number of major
environmental problems. Meanwhile, the various provinces and cities have also
developed such activities. In the past three years, 1,500 journalists from 750
news units have participated in these activities, engendering more than 10,000
news articles. Of these, television news items alone accounted for 1,600.
In 1983 China established the first national-level professional newspaper on
environmental protection in the world -- the China Environment News, with an
annual circulation of nearly 300,000 copies. In 1980 the China Environmental
Science Press was established. By 1995 it had published over five million copies
of books of 860 titles on the environment. Since 1990 the China Environment
Yearbook has been published, and its English version also published since 1994.
Besides, there are more than 30 local environmental newspapers and several
hundred professional periodicals.
The Chinese government encourages the whole of society to participate in
environmental publicity and education activities. In recent years the
environmental protection departments, educational departments, cultural
departments, news units, organizations for women and youth, scientific
associations and academic societies have all developed their own environmental
publicity and educational activities, highlighted by the following aspects:
-- Higher education has provided a great number of scientific, technological and
managerial personnel for environ"imen tal protection work. A total of 140
colleges and universities, including Beijing University, Qinghua University, the
People's University of China, Beijing Normal University, Nanjing University,
Tongji University and Wuhan University, all have departments of or majors in
environmental studies, with a total of 206 units having the authority of
awarding bachelor's degrees. Approved by the Academic Degrees Committee under
the State Council, there are 223 units granting master's degrees in 51 majors
concerning the environment, 77 units granting doctorates in 39 majors, and
several postdoctorate positions. Furthermore, more than 40 specialized secondary
schools and over 100 vocational high schools also offer environmental courses.
Over the past 20 years, large numbers of specialists trained by China's
professional environmental education have become a significant force in the
environmental protection field.
-- On-the-job training has enhanced the quality of environmental managerial
personnel. In 1981 the Environmental Administrative Personnel Training College
was established for the purpose of offering on-the-job training, continuing
education and academic-level education to administrative personnel in the
environmental protection departments throughout the country. By the end of 1995
over 5,200 trainees had completed courses there. These skill-enhanced trainees
are playing an important role in promoting the nation's environmental protection
work. Moreover, proceeding from the actual needs, various types of environmental
training classes and symposiums have been held by various localities and
departments concerned. Statistics show that over the past decade, more than
10,000 training classes have been held attended by over 400, 000 persons.
-- Basic environmental education has cultivated and enhanced young people's
environmental consciousness. In recent years, environmental education has been
offered in high schools, primary schools and kindergartens throughout the
country to cultivate the children's loving-the-nature quality and sense of
responsibility for environmental protection.
China is a populous country with underdeveloped education and the nation's
consciousness about the environment remains to be further enhanced. Therefore,
it will be a long-term, arduous task to do well in environmental publicity and
education in China.
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