Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, on behalf of the State Planning Commission, I would like to welcome experts from home and abroad and members of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Thank you for contributing your efforts to the cause of environment and development in China.
Mr. Chairman,
Environment and development are vital issues which have raised the concerns of the international community. Every country is faced with the urgent questions of changing their mode of production and consumption patterns in order to protect the resources and environment upon which human beings depend for their existence. China, with its large population, comparative shortage of resources per capita, limited economic and technological development, and low level of education and environmental awareness, particularly needs to practice the strategy of sustainable development. In order to develop the economy and eliminate poverty, protecting resources and ecology within the context of economic development is essential.
After the United Nations Conference on the Economy and Development (UNCED), the Chinese Government was among the first to formulate a national sustainable development strategy. This document is China's Agenda 21: White Paper on China's Population, Environment, and Development in the 21st Century. Implementation of this strategy began following approval obtained in March 1994 by all levels of government. The State Planning Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission, along with related departments, have worked a great deal on the realization of China's Agenda 21. I would now like to present a brief overview of this work.
To guarantee the implementation of a sustainable development strategy, a legal system embodying the spirit of this strategy must first be built. In the past year, the Chinese Government, following the strategies put forward in China's Agenda 21, has strengthened the country's legal framework relative to sustainable development.
Seventeen laws and regulations have been declared and revised, including the National Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, Temporary Regulations on Huaihe River Water Pollution Prevention and Control, and the Natural Reserves Regulations. The Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, among others, are currently undergoing revision.
Strengthening the enforcement of these laws is an important means to implement China's Agenda 21. The Chinese government organizes national legal inspection on environmental protection once a year. From September 9 to 13 this year, the second on-site meeting on questions concerning Huaihe River pollution was held. Regulations on Huaihe River pollution prevention and control and the Huaihe River Pollution Control Programme were discussed.
Efforts have also been made to incorporate the basic ideas and requirements of China's Agenda 21 into medium-and long-term social and economic planning, in particular in the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The State Planning Commission is actively promoting the change from an extensive to an intensive mode of economic growth, raising resource utilization efficiency, and striving to improve the quality of both economic growth and benefits. The move to this new approach has been an integral part of the formulation of both the Ninth Five-Year Plan and the Long Term Social and Economic Development Plan for 2010.
After the 1994 High Level Round Table Conference on China's Agenda 21, the State Planning Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission selected three sited for pilot projects. These site, Beijing, Hubei, and Guizhou, were charged with the beginning phase of Studies on Integrating China's Agenda 21 into the National and Economic Social Development Plan. After consulting with various departments, a draft of the study was completed in July of this year. One month later, a seminar with expert participants from home and abroad was held in order to analyze, assess, and improve upon the report.
Based upon a careful analysis of Chinese conditions, and according to the requirements set out in China's Agenda 21, the study has put forward many recommendations on the implementation of sustainable development. The five aspects touched upon in the report are as follows: integrations of China's Agenda 21 into the Ninth Five-Year Plan (industrial and agricultural plans), social development, resources and environmental protection, science and technology, and the selection of provinces and municipalities for pilot projects. Many creative recommendations concerning legislation, policy, and organization have been raised in this study. These have provided valuable theoretical guidance to the implementation of Agenda 21.
Within the Chinese government, each department and local authority has actively promoted the implementation of Agenda 21. According to its own specific conditions, the city of Beijing has formulated its own Agenda 21 Action Plan, set up related organizations for its implementation and formulated a sustainable development strategy. The provinces of Hubei and Guizhou prepared study reports on implementation of Agenda 21. The provinces of Sichuan, Xinjiang, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Jiangsu, as well as the cities of Guangzhou, Lianyuangang, Benxi, Nanyang, and Changzhou, have worked out general plans for the implementation of a sustainable development strategy under the umbrella of their local Ninth Five- Year Plans. Benxi, a city that could not be found by satellite due to extensive pollution, has formulated its own Agenda 21 to transform itself into a clean ecological city with a sustainable development strategy. The Forestry Ministry has set up a Forestry Agenda 21 Leading Group and formulated China's Agenda 21 Forestry Action Plan. the Oceanographic Administration has put forward an action plan based on sustainable development and the protection of China's ocean resources. The National Environmental Protection Agency has accomplished China's Environmental Protection Agenda 21. In addition, many other ministries and local governments are preparing programmes and plans for implementing China's Agenda 21 according to their respective situations.
The sustainable development strategy put forward in China's Agenda 21 is an entirely new concept for China and involves all aspects of society. It requires not only the assistance and concern of governmental organizations to achieve its implementations, but also relies on the awareness and active participation of the general public. In this important aspect, work has begun as well.
Training programmes have been organized to raise an awareness of sustainable development at all levels of leadership. Due to the crucial role on the awareness and active participation of the general public. In this important aspect, work ahs begun as well.
Training programmes have been organized to raise an awareness of sustainable development at all levels of leadership. Due to the crucial role that governmental organizations rare playing in the promotion of this approach the State Planning Commission has been active. From November 1994 to May 1995, 200 division chief-level leaders responsible for economic, scientific, and technological planning of related ministries, provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities received relevant training, Seminars were organized as well, laying a solid base for the implementation of Agenda 21 in different localities and sectors. At the same time, the planning commissions of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Gansu, Jilin, Zhejiang, Benxi, and Nanyang, have also organized training programmes on sustainable development in order to raise the awareness and implementation capabilities of managerial personnel.
The mass media, including print media, have also been used to publicize China's Agenda 21 and the concept of sustainable development, The People's Daily carried a n abstract of the Agenda on 20 November 1994,and a simplified version is being compiled at present, A30 part television serial, It's Not a Dream for the 21st Century, is being produced by Beijing Television Station. Tianjin Xinlei Publishing House will soon finish a cartoon serial for children, Defending the Earth, which aims to instruct children on the idea of sustainable development . At the same time, many scholars have written articles and papers on this topic. The strategies put forth in Agenda 21 are gradually striking root in the hearts of the people.
Mr. Chairman,
It is our desire and inevitable choice for China to practice sustainable development as put forward in Agenda 21. The realization of the Agenda depends on the long term and concentrated efforts of all localities and departments. With 1994 as the year of the formulation of this document, 1995 will bring the Agenda into reality. This year is also a crucial time for the formulation of China's Ninth Five-Year Plan on Social and Economic Development and the Long Term Plan for 2010. We hope experts from home and abroad will make use of this opportunity to contribute their wisdom and expertise to implementing Agenda 21 in China. In order to further promote the Agenda and to draw the support and concern of the international Community, the State Planning Commission has suggested the organization of a Second High Level Round Table Conference on China's Agenda 21 in collaboration with other related departments. In addition to experts and scholars, we hope to invite influential personnel from financial and industrial circles to attract their participation in implementing the Agenda.
In conclusion, I would like to wish the meeting a complete success.
Thank you. Mr.Chairman.