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Wen: China committed to sustainable development

China.org.cn, April 26, 2012

• China was committed to sustainable development and had made it a national development strategy, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a sustainable development forum in Stockholm on Wednesday.

  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) gives a speech at the ministerial dialogue of the Stockholm+40 - Partnership Forum for Sustainable Development in Stockholm, Sweden, April 25, 2012.[Xinhua]

  40 years ago, the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment marked the beginning of general public awareness of the importance of environmental protection, and ushered in a new era for sustainable development, Wen said at the Stockholm Plus 40 Partnership Forum for Sustainable Development.
  
  

  The forum, attended by Swedish leaders and senior officials from more than 70 countries, was held on April 23-25 to commemorate the first U.N. Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972.

  Over the past 40 years, China attended all important meetings on sustainable development, Wen said. It also made resource conservation and environment protection its basic national policy and raised it to the level of a national development strategy.

  "Since the start of the new century, we have taken the outlook on scientific development as an important guiding principle in economic and social development," Wen said.

  Wen said that, as the biggest developing country in the world, China is still in the process of industrialization and urbanization, and faces serious problems from unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable development.

  At present, China was implementing its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) for national economic and social development.

  "The plan demonstrates the government's strong commitment that China will never pursue economic growth at the expense of the environment and people's health," he said.

  Wen said sustainable development was both a global trend and a long-term and tough task for the world, and "therefore we need to be innovative in creating new ideas, make breakthroughs in practice, and join hands in action."

  To that end, Wen stressed protection of people's equal environmental rights, insisting on green development and strengthening global governance for sustainable development.

  "We only have one Earth," Wen said, "We live on this planet together, and so we have the duty to join hands in protecting our homes and prevent the 'silent spring' from happening, and strive to create a world with bird song and the fragrance of flowers."

  "I hope today's conference is not only an occasion for commemoration, but also for reflection and promise," Wen said.

  Wen attended the forum during a two-day official visit to Sweden, the first official visit to the Nordic country by a Chinese premier in nearly 30 years. Wen's four-nation tour will also take him to Poland.

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