Jiang Jianjun, director of the Geological Environment Department under the Ministry of Land and Resources gave an interview to China.org.cn on Wednesday, reviewing the enlightened approach to the environment and interpreting the buzz term "recycling economy."

The recent Party congress report called for adopting an enlightened approach to the environment and building a harmonious society with a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly industrial structure, economic growth, and consumption pattern.

Jiang remarked that the main idea of this enlightened approach was to harmonize humanity with nature. He pinpointed that the idea would give a great impetus to the development of the recycling economy.

Allowing for the immense population and relatively inadequate resources, the economic growth should rely on energy saving and environmental protection.

Held accountable for the development of the recycling economy, the government will make a series of effective policies available to accomplish it. For example, the related economic policies may revolve around a pricing system of energy and Green National Accounts, etc.

Industrial policies will encourage an ecological industrial mode in a bid to revamp the current industrial system; a similar mode will go to agriculture.

He added that the government should also grant favorable policies by citing the high-tech and environmentally friendly technologies as examples. In lifestyle, the government should advocate a green consumption pattern among the people to make waste recycling possible.

He said the recycling economy in China just got off the ground. Experiences will be gained in future practice as problems are removed.

Currently the local governments haven't realized that forging the idea of the recycling economy is significant and urgent. The principle reason is that they feverishly pursue economic growth while downplaying environmental protection. It is also due to a deviating spectrum of interpretations of the recycling economy. Some think it simply means recycling waste, while others regard it synonymous with "sustainable economy."

He pointed out that the recycling economy hadn't rendered itself to application due to the flawed economic system, absent law and policies, and lack of fiscal support and key technological support.

The recycling economy symbolized a transition of economic growth from an extensive to intensive one, coordinating economic development with resources and environment.

"There is a long way to go before we manage to maneuver it into a mainstream economic mode," he said.

(China.org.cn by He Shan, October 18, 2007)