On a Green Road

By Wang Hairong

On a Green Road

By Wang Hairong

China embarks on a path to tackle environmental challenges

In Anji County, a place in east China’s Zhejiang Province long known for its bamboo forests, the autumn scenery is no less charming than in any other season. Large expanses of blooming sunflowers and sweet-scented osmanthus lure tourists from far and wide.

On September 4, the county government received the UN Habitat Scroll of Honor Awards, the most prestigious award from the world body to recognize individuals and institutions instrumental in improving living conditions in urban centers around the world.

More than 20 winners have come from China since the award was launched in 1989.

Anji epitomizes China’s effort to build an ecologically friendly society. In the 1980s, the county developed polluting industries, such as papermaking, chemical engineering and building material manufacturing, to boost its economy. Industrial waste seriously contaminated water and reduced biodiversity, while resources such as wood and minerals were overexploited. After recognizing the adverse effects of environmental degradation, the county closed down a number of polluting enterprises.

Since 2001, the county has implemented an ecological improvement program, which has not only tremendously changed its environment, but also boosted the local economy by developing eco-tourism, green agriculture and low-carbon industries such as bamboo processing.

Today, the county of nearly half a million people boasts a very low per-capita energy consumption, as well as superb air quality. Every new building is topped by a solar power unit to reduce electricity costs. Green spaces cover about 51 percent of the city’s area, and the city treats all industrial waste water and 92 percent of household sewage, reported the local newspaper Huzhou Daily.

Green governance

“China paid a heavy environmental cost for economic and social development in the past three decades, and the current development model cannot be continued,” said Xia Guang, Director of the Policy Research Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.“Environmental protection has been put at an increasingly important position in China’s governance philosophy.”

In the 1980s, environmental protection was made a basic national policy, yet environmental policies were made separately from economic policies. In the 1990s, the strategy of sustainable development was put forward, and environmental protection was taken into consideration in the creation of economic policies. However, taking action on the environment had not yet become mainstream ideology and had not significantly affected people’s economic behavior and lifestyle.

In October 2003, the Third Plenum of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) endorsed the Scientifc Outlook on Development.

The Scientific Outlook on Development ideology puts people frst and calls for comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development instead of a blind pursuit of GDP growth.

In October 2007, the Scientific Outlook on Development was comprehensively explained and written into the Party Constitution at the 17th CPC National Congress.

BAMBOO BUSINESS: Anji County in Zhejiang Province is rich in bamboo forests. In 2011, the bamboo industry contributed to an average of 60 percent of local farmers’ income

To implement the Scientific Outlook on Development, the Chinese Government set a target to lower energy consumption per unit ofthe GDP by 20 percent from the base level in 2005 and to cut the level of major pollutants by 10 percent during the period from 2006 to 2010.

President Hu Jintao, also General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called for promoting a culture of conservation in his report to the 17th CPC National Congress, emphasizing the need to set up an energy- and resource-efficient and environmentally friendly industrial structure, growth model and consumption pattern.

Hu set the goals at a time when 62 percent of the country’s major rivers were seriously polluted, 90 percent of waterways fowing through urban areas were contaminated, more than 300 million residents lacked access to clean drinking water, and quite a number of localities failed to fulfll the required quotas for pollutant emission reduction and energy conservation.

The concept refects an important change in the CPC’s understanding of development. Rather than emphasizing economic expansion as the core of development as it did in the past, the Party has realized balancing the relationship between humans and nature is pivotal to sustainable development.

Since the concept was proposed, it has guided policies and practices across the country.

“More than 1,000 cities and counties have worked out blueprints and timetables for promoting a culture of conservation that features harmonious relations between people and nature, as well as environment-friendly consumption and lifestyles,” said Li Ganjie, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection, in July 2011.

Tightened regulation

Frequent crackdowns on polluters have been launched to abate pollution in China.

From the end of 2004 to the beginning of 2005, the then State Environmental Protection Administration, published a list of 30 projects in violation of environmental laws and regulations, ordered them to shut down and severely punished the institutions and persons involved.

The environmental standard has been raised for heavily polluting industries such as coal-fired electricity generation, steel and cement, promulgating a cleaner production standard.

For instance, in 2005, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued the Interim Provisions on Promoting Industrial Restructuring and the Guidance Catalogue for Industrial Restructuring to restrict the expansion of highly polluting industries.

In June 2007, the State Council issued a circular that set up a system to hold local government leaders accountable for missing energy conservation and emissions reduction targets.

To enhance protective measures, the Central Government raised the administrative ranks of environmental protection authorities. In March 2008, the State Environmental Protection Administration was elevated to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the status of local environment protection departments was also promoted accordingly.

Local governments also hurried to enact environmental protection regulations. For instance, Hebei Province issued a regulation to reduce pollutants, Henan Province promulgated an ordinance to prevent and control water pollution, and Guizhou Province produced administrative accountability measures regarding the reduction of major pollutants.

Stronger oversight measures have produced results. In June 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that China had accomplished its fve-year goal for energy conservation and pollution control as energy consumption per unit of the GDP dropped by 19.1 percent during the 11th Five-year Plan period (2006-10), and the emission of sulfur dioxide went down by 14.29 percent, while the chemical oxygen demand was cut by 12.45 percent.

During the five-year period, the government shut down small coal-fired generators with a total capacity of 7.6825 million kilowatts, and eliminated 120 million tons of outdated iron production capacity, 72 million tons of outdated steel production capacity and 370 million tons of outdated cement production capacity. Many polluting paper mills, chemical engineering plants, textile printing and dyeing factories were also closed down.

The energy conservation efforts during the five-year period cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.46 billion tons, according to the NDRC. Surface-water quality was also improved.

Despite the success, the government has acknowledged that environmental challenges remain daunting and expressed its determination to further conserve energy and reduce emissions.

In July, the State Council released a development plan for energy conservation and environmental protection industries during the period from 2011 to 2015. It spells out incentives for the industries including preferential taxation and land-use policies.

The document predicts that in the 2011-15 period, energy conservation and environmental protection industries will grow at an average annual rate of more than 15 percent, and will have a total output of 4.5 trillion yuan ($714 billion) by 2015, equaling roughly 2 percent of China’s GDP.

wanghairong@bjreview.com