Mr. Chairman, Dear Members,
At this new starting point, the Second Phase of the Council has been formed and is starting to work. On behalf of the Secretariat, please allow me to brief you on the follow-up of the recommendations made by the Council in the First Phase, the major progress made by China recently in the field of environment and development, and the Council's membership and working group preparations for the Second Phase.
1. Follow-up of the Major Recommendations Made by the Council in the First Phase
Based on substantial research work in the First Phase, recommendations were made at each Council meeting to the Chinese Government on environment and development, and were reported directly to State leaders. During this five year period, more than forty recommendations were put forward, covering areas of environmental economic policies, energy strategies, pollution control, cleaner production, biodiversity protection, environmental monitoring & management, and trade and sustain able development, and so forth. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to these recommendations, and has forwarded them in time to the relevant departments for further study, reference and adoption. The Secretariat Head Office has been closely following the progress made in this regard. Now I would like to concentrate on the following fields where major recommendations and outcomes of the Council have been adopted or reflected.
1) Environmental Economic Policies
China is in the process of improving its environmental economic policies for market economy in areas of technological innovation of enterprises, comprehensive utilization of resources, taxes, and finance, etc. Taxation is now used as a mean s of limiting the production of polluting enterprises and products. The scope of tax exemption for environmentally friendly products of comprehensive resources utilization has also been expanded. Credit policies have been formulated to support pollution prevention, pollution control and ecological conservation. These policies stipulate that financial institutions can not grant loans to enterprises without the prior agreement of environmental protection departments. This not only protects the environment and promotes pollution prevention and control, but also ensures the safety of loans. In light of the principle of "Polluter Pays", pollution discharge fee standards are being raised on a gradual basis with a view to making pollution discharge fees higher than treatment costs thus encouraging enterprises to reduce their total pollutant discharge.
In the river basins of the Huaihe River, Liaohe River, Dianchi Lake. Chaohu Lake, and others, measures are being taken to charge all enterprises and households that discharge waste water, in order to pay for the operation of waste water treatment plants. In order to promote the prevention and control of pollution in the Huaihe River Basin, the Government has put forward several preferential policies this year, which include:
(1) Enterprises that procure construction materials by utilizing stone coal, or that extract gold or silver from waste liquids or dregs, are exempted from V.A.T. for such products.
(2) Investment projects for pollution treatment enjoy zero rate for fixed assets investment direct tax.
(3) The Quick Depreciation rate is applied to pollution treatment facilities of enterprises
2) Energy Strategies and Policies
China is faced with the practical problem of heavy reliance on coal on the one h and, and pollution caused by the combustion of such coal on the other. The key is to improve coal utilization efficiency and adjust our energy-use structure.
In order to raise coal utilization efficiency, China is quickening its pace in taking measures for coal washing, selecting and processing, and for better end-us e of the coal product. The Guidelines for the Development of Cleaner Coal Technologies in China between the 9th Five-Year Period and the Year 2010 has been formulated and taken effect. Management measures for preventing and controlling pollution caused by sulfur coal are being formulated by the relevant departments of the State Council, and are expected to be promulgated by the end of this year. T he Chinese Government has determined that by the year 2000, big and medium-sized cities across the country should stop the scattered burning of raw coal and completely turn to sulfur-fixed briquette and other types of clean fuels.
In order to adjust our energy-use structure, China will implement a strategy for the sustainable development of energy resources. While relying mainly on thermal power and focusing its efforts on improving energy efficiency, China will also devote major efforts to developing hydro power, actively exploring and developing petroleum and natural gas, trying to raise the proportion of nuclear power in energy make-up, and developing new and renewable energy in light of local conditions.
In an effort to control air pollution caused by urban vehicles, the Environmental Protection Committee under the State Council has decided that by the year 2000, leaded gasoline should be abandoned across the country. From 1 June 1997, Beijing has taken the lead in banning leaded gasoline. Shanghai, Tianjin and Gunagzhou would do so by the end of this year. This is expected to be extended soon to all large and medium-sized cities.
3) Pollution Control and Cleaner Production
At present, the primary task of China's environmental protection effort is to control environmental pollution and improve environmental quality. The environmental protection goal set by the Chinese Government for the year 2000 is that the trend of environmental pollution and ecological degradation should be basically curbed, and that the environmental quality of some cities and areas should have show some improvement by that time.
In order to realize this goal, two major approaches are currently being implemented across the country as witnessed in the Plan on the Control of Total Emissions and Trans-Century Green Engineering Program. The former requires that various localities and enterprises should effectively control the total amount of their pollutant discharge in the process of economic growth, with a view to stabilizing or even reducing total pollutant discharge levels while increasing production. The latter aims at controlling pollution in river basins and regions and improving environmental quality of certain areas through a series of projects. The implementation of these two documents has already produced remarkable results.
For urban environmental pollution control, emphasis is laid on the construction of infrastructure facilities, and major efforts have been devoted to comprehensive environmental treatment. To this end, a nation-wide movement for creating national model cities for environmental protection has been launched. Following Zhangjiagang City of Jiangsu Province, which was the first to be named National Model City for Environmental Protection last year, five other cities (Dalian, Shenzahe, Xiamen, Weihai and Zhuhai) have also obtained the honor this year. A very good example of urban pollution control is that Benxi City of Liaoning Province; once "invisible from the satellite" because of heavy air pollution, the city has now taken on a completely new look after seven years of active treatment and control.
Industrial pollution control mainly takes the form of cleaner production in combination with technological innovation. A National Cleaner Production Center was set up in 1994 to provide training services for the whole country. We now have a contingent of technical people specialized in cleaner production, and some demonstration projects for cleaner production have been completed. Additionally, almost two hundred enterprises have conducted cleaner production auditing, and a cleaner production network has taken initial shape.
4) The Protection of Biodiversity
The Chinese Government attaches great importance to protecting biodiversity. The National Environmental Protection Agency was entrusted by the State Council to lead to national co-ordination group composed of 20 departments for the implementation of the Convention on Biodiversity protection. We have formulated the Action Plan for China's Biodiversity Protection, compiled the Country Report on China 's Biodiversity and strengthened biodiversity data base management. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yunnan Province, where biodiversity is very rich, have set up a Scientific Committee on Biodiversity. The departments concerned have taken stringent legal measures against such crimes as giant panda hunting and so forth. So far, the implementation of the Action Plan for China's Biodiversity Protection is proceeding smoothly.
5) Trade and the Environment
During the period 1992 to 1996, China's foreign economic trade developed at its fastest, with a total foreign trade volume of USD 1,168.6 billion, and an average annual growth rate of 16.4%. Since 1992, China has been the 11th largest trading economy in the world. Foreign trade has not only brought many development opportunities for China, but also promoted the economic growth of its trading partners. The Chinese Government pays great attention to environmental problems in international trade, and makes it a point to strengthen environmental management of enterprises and to exercise certification of the ISO 14000 Environmental Manage-ment System. A National Leading Committee for the Certification of ISO 14000 was established this year to guide the implementation of ISO 14000 and standardize environmental behaviors of industrial enterprises. So far, 107 types of products from thirty-two enterprises have acquired environmental labels, 742 types of products bear green labels, and there are more than 30 types of organic food products. Progress has also been made in developing and utilizing non-ozone depleting products and facilities.
2. Major Progress in China's Environment and Development
The past five years of the Council's work occurred in a time during which Deng Xiaoping's statements on 'further deepening the reform and continuing the opening up', made during his visit to the South, and the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China inspired impressive progress both in reform, opening up and modernization throughout China.
From 1992 to 1996, the gross domestic product rose by 12.1% a year on average. Rapid economic growth was registered, while inflation was brought under effective control. Notable headway was made in economic restructuring. Infrastructure including water conservation, transport and telecommunications, and basic industries such as iron and steel and energy industries expanded quickly. Rapid economic growth was witnessed in the eastern part of the country, while the pace of economic development was increased in the central and western parts. Significant advances were made in structural reform to develop the socialist market economic structure. The fundamental role played by the market was obviously reinforced in the distribution of resources. Living standards of the people rose notably: the average annual per capita income for living expenses increased by 7.2% for city dweller s in real terms: while the average annual per capita net income went up by 5.7% for rural residents in real terms. The rural poor population decreased by 32 mil lion. Over the past five years, major progress has been made in developing China 's productive forces, increasing the overall national strength and improving the people's living standard.
Eye-catching progress was also registered in China's environmental protection over these five magnificent years. Following the Fourth National Conference on Environmental Protection in July 1996, the third generation of leadership of the Party Central Committee with Jiang Zemin at the core listened to the report on the special topic of the environment protection in March of this year. The leadership reaffirmed environmental protection as a basic state policy to which China must adhere over the long term. Chief leaders at all levels are required to take personal charge of environmental protection. Governments at all levels should take environment and development into overall consideration in the policy-making process, should strengthen environmental legal system, and should increase their in put into environmental protection for the realization of trans-century environmental targets.
The state legislative organ has not only revised the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution, but also promulgated two new ones: the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution. Provisions for punishing offenses against environment were added into the newly revised Criminal Law. The Provisional Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Basin, the first environmental law for a river basin, and Regulations on the Management of Nature Reserves were promulgated by the State Council. The number of environmental regulations issued by NEPA and relevant departments under the State Council now totals more than one hundred. The number of local environmental laws and regulation s issued by provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and large cities with legislative power amounts to more than three hundred. The development and quality of environmental legislation over these five years are unprecedented in the history of environment and development.
Efforts are also made to tighten the enforcement of environmental laws. Three major actions have been taken for the supervision of law enforcement, thereby ensuring the smooth implementation of national laws, regulations and central government's decrees, and raising the efficiency of environmental law enforcement. Firs t, the central and provincial authoritative organs inspect and supervise the enforcement of environmental laws by provincial governments. Third, the central government exercises administrative supervision over the enforcement of such environmental laws by provincial governments. It is against this background of a gradually improving legal framework that a centralized law enforcement movement was recently conducted nationwide, and over 60,000 small-sized heavy-polluting enterprises were closed down between August 1996 and June 1997. One can imagine how hard it is for a developing country to take such a decision of strategic importance and put it into firm action! This well explains the determination and confidence of the Chinese government in protecting the environment and pursuing sustainable development.
China's key environmental protection project, "The 332 Project" as it is called by friends from the international community and the environmental community, is now in full swing. Rapid progress has been gained in the prevention and control of water pollution in the Three Rivers (Huaihe River, Haihe River and Liaohe River and the Three Lakes (Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and Dianchi Lake). In the Huaih e River Basin, the provincial governments of Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Henan provinces are working very hard to make sure that all industrial pollutant discharge is up to the standard by the end of 1997, with a view to return clarity to the water body by the year 2000. Substantive financial and policy support have be en given by the Chinese Government and relevant departments to facilitate the realization of the prevention control goals. The Program on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in the Two Areas (the sulfur dioxide controlled area and the acid rain controlled area) has been drafted and will soon be issued by the State Council.
The Chinese government has decided to carry out the principle of preventing and controlling pollution and ecological conservation at the same time. As a result, ecological conservation is further reinforced. Continuous progress has been mad e in the ten major ecological construction programmes with a view to protecting and improving the ecological environment. An example of this is the shelterbelt programme in the Three-North area (north, northeast and northwest China), where one third of the counties have started to see their agricultural ecological environment develop in a healthy circle. There are various types of nature reserves all over the country, numbering almost eight hundred, and covering a total area of 71.85 million hectares. They account for 7.19% of China's national territory, a ratio that is much higher than the world average. Within this group, twelve nature reserves have joined the International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network. There are 227 wildlife breeding centers, more than 60 large botanical gardens and 25 5 reserve bases for exotic wild flora, enabling a number of rare and endangered fauna and flora to be protected. Additionally, there are 160 pilot counties and more than 2,000 pilot villages for ecological agriculture nationwide, as well as over one hundred ecological demonstration counties across China.
Despite the eye-catching and encouraging achievements in China's development and environment, the Chinese Government is fully aware that its rapid economic growth is achieved under difficult circumstances. With its backward economy and technology, China, while still in the primary stage of socialism, is faced with the dual task of developing its economy and while simultaneously protecting the environment. Therefore, it is a must to adhere to the long-term basic state policy of environmental protection, and firmly advance the coordinated development of economy and environment.
3. The New Council Members and Expert Working Groups
As stipulated in the Rules of Procedure, the First Phase of the Council lasted five years. Most of the members have not only participated in the activities of t he First Phase from beginning to end, but also successfully completed all the tasks. After the fifth meeting of the Council, the Secretariat, under the leadership of the Chairman and Vice-Chairs, in light of the needs of work and the rules o f procedure, and taking the views from all sides into consideration, has offered suggestions for the readjustment of some members and expert working groups. So far, most expert working groups have been readjusted and approved by the Bureau. A few Council memberships will also be renewed due to changes of their position s.
In the First Phase, the Council was composed of twenty-seven international members, among whom seventeen will stay for the Second Phase. Among five newly engage d members of the Second Phase of the Council, four has already taken their place s. In the readjustment of the members, representation from various countries, regions, and fields of expertise have all been taken into full consideration to al low the Council to listen to an extensive array views while pooling the wisdom o f all sectors. Since the Chinese government is going to be renewed next year, necessary readjustment will be carried out for some Chinese members after this meeting. In the Second Phase, the Council has reorganized its Expert Working Group structure, with some groups remaining and some new ones being established. There are now seven Expert Working Groups and one Project Group, namely:
(1) Working Group on Pollution Control
(2) Working Group on Energy Strategies and Technologies
(3) Working Group on Biodiversity
(4) Working Group on Trade and Environment
(5) Working Group on Environmental Economics
(6) Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture
(7) Working Group on Cleaner Production, and
(8) Project Group on Integration of Environmental consideration into Economic Planning.
In the readjustment and establishment of the Expert Working Groups and the Project Group, high standards have been followed in the selection of members, many of whom are eminent experts and scholars. Young experts and scholars are enrolled to maintain the high level of the Expert Working Groups while adding vigor and vitality into them.
4. Report on the work plans of the Second Phase of the Council and Expert Working Groups
After the conclusion of the fifth meeting of CCICED, the Bureau has made a decision that the work of the Second Phase of the Council would take further consideration of China's basic national condition, would combine with the Ninth Five-Yea r Plan for environmental protection and the environmental protection objectives for the year 2010, and would turn the focal point to policy and project demonstration on the basis of previous policy-oriented studies.
In accordance with the above guiding principle, the Expert Working Groups have, over the past year, held separate meetings to study and formulate the work plans for the future five years. Related personnel from the Secretariat Head Office also participated and were involved in co-ordinating the work plans of various Working Groups. During this process, some experts put forward good suggestions about understanding and implementing "policy and project demonstrations", that is combining those policy recommendations with on-going projects. Such measures have wide consensus, are in conformity with China's national conditions, and include the Plan for Total Amount Control of Major Pollutants Discharge, the Trans-century Green Engineering Programme, and projects for the pollution treatment of Three Rivers, Three Lakes, and Two Areas. The Second Phase of the China Council can play a constructive role in, and make new contributions to, promoting the attainment of the Ninth Five-Year environmental protection objectives and environmental protection plan goals for the year 2010.
Over the past years, all the Working Groups have been working very hard to make organizational adjustments and draft plans for future work. Despite all the difficulties, they have formulated the plans and submit them to this Council meeting for deliberation.
5. Report on Council Finances
The financial support of the Council has risen from approximately $ 2,000,000 to $ 2,500,000 since 1996. Canada remains the main external donor with almost one million dollars per year, followed by European Union at 260,000, UK, Norway and Germany with approximately 200,000 annually, Netherlands and Japan with approximately 150,000 annually and while the WWF, Rockefeller foundation and others make smaller contributions. China has also enlarged its financial input.
At present, the Council still lacks sufficient financial support. Annual contributions for Working Groups range from 130,000 to 330,000 dollars, which enable al l Working Groups to hold one or two meetings every year and produce a report. While one or two groups are well funded, most have to subsist with the bare minimum of financial resources. Due to inadequate financial resources, most are unable to budget for special seminars, studies and demonstration projects.
Mr. Chairman, dear Members,
When we are planning the blueprint for this Council and looking to our bright future, we should extend our gratitude to the relevant governments and international organizations which have given generous donations to the work of the Council.
Their continued support enables the Second Phase of the China Council to stride towards a new page in its history journey with completely new posture and full confidence. On this occasion, my heart and the hearts of my colleagues from the Secretariat Head Office, are filled with sincere happiness and encouragement.
Under the guidance and leadership of the Bureau, the Secretariat Head Office will make efforts to perform the duties and accomplish its own mission.
I wish the meeting a great success.
