Shanghai will invest 30 percent of its annual GDP to improve and protect the environment over the next five to 10 years, said Han Zheng, vice-mayor of Shanghai, at a recent seminar related to the 35th annual meeting of Asian Development Bank. Efforts will include major landscape engineering.
Han Zheng made the remarks while addressing the seminar on “Megacities: Local, Regional, and Global Environmental Challenges.” According to him, the cleaning of Shuzhou River conducted by Shanghai and Asian Development Bank has turned out to be effective. With the elimination last year of dirty water and an offensive odor, the water of the Suzhou and its branches has a steady flow and an improving ecological environment. The second phase of construction is expected to start next year.
Han Zheng also noted that the average green area was 5.5 square meters (about 6 yards) per person at the end of last year in contrast with only 0.1 square meter 50 years ago. The figure will come close to 7 square meters at the end of this year. In other words, the green belt constructed in the past three years has surpassed the total areas of the past 50 years.
(新闻晨报[News Morning Post], translated by Zheng Guihong for china.org.cn May 14, 2002)
