China is expected to lay unprecedented emphasis on ecological
conservation and environmental protection during its economic
expansion in the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05), according to
a senior environmental legislator.
The country's new
economic blueprint, which was submitted by Premier Zhu Rongji
to the National People's Congress (NPC) for consideration
on Monday, not only has a special chapter on the efforts,
but also sets forth a sustainable development strategy for
the national economy, Qu Geping said yesterday.
Qu, chairman of
the Environmental and Resources Protection Committee under
the Standing Committee of the NPC, said he envisioned the
country would make marked progress in ecological and environmental
protection during the coming five years.
The country will
further reduce discharges of various industrial pollutants
by 10 percent from its current levels, and improve the sewage
treatment rate in large cities to 45 percent from the existing
15 percent, Qu said.
Air pollution in
major cities will also be significantly reduced, he said.
In addition, the
ecological situation in the country's central and western
regions and in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze
River will be greatly improved. In those areas, China will
return reclaimed land to forest and grassland, close down
pollution-causing firms, rein in land and soil erosion over
more than 200,000 hectares, and combat the rampant spread
of desert conditions, according to the legislator.
Asked about the
possible impact on the environment caused by the implementation
of the proposed massive project to divert water from the country's
southern to northern regions, Qu conceded that the most pressing
concerns center on environmental problems.
Dire consequences can be avoided by economizing on water use,
cleaning water before diverting it, and treating pollution
in the regions before the diverted water flows there, he said.
Sun Honglie, a
NPC deputy, said China's water prices should be raised to
a "rational level" to encourage people to save water.
Over the last five
years, China's top legislature has brought in six laws and
revised nine others on environmental protection and ecological
conservation, including those on controlling solid waste pollution,
air pollution, and water and soil preservation, according
to Qu.
(China Daily 03/10/2001)
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