China is formulating policies that would hold producers partly or wholly responsible for treating scrap electronic products, a senior environmental official said in Beijing Thursday.

Pan Yue, deputy director-general of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said the administration would actively push for the promulgation of such policies aimed at realizing harmony between economic growth and environmental protection.

Pan called the new system under consideration an "extension of producers' responsibilities", a development of the "polluters pay for the pollution they cause" principle.

Consumption of electronic products has been growing rapidly in China fueled by rising living standards. By the end of September 2003, China had 250 million mobile phone users.

"Treatment of electronic garbage is different from that of ordinary household garbage. Electronic products contain complex materials and inappropriate treatment would cause great harm to the environment," said Pan.

He said the key in solving environmental pollution caused by electronic garbage lies in encouraging plants to produce environmentally-friendly products. This would cut or eliminate the use of harmful substances at the source.

(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2003)