Chinese begin counting biological costs in pursuit of green GDP

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 09, 2004

Chinese begin counting biological costs in pursuit of green GDP

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Until recently, Chinese had been proud of the explosive economic growth, an averaged 8-plus percentincrease in GDP over the past 25 years, regardless of heavy costs in biological and environmental fields as well as resources.

Now the central leadership is turning to a scientific concept of development which calls for an overall, coordinate and sustainable development.

Premier Wen Jiabao, in his government work report to the current parliament session, pledged to well handle the issues of population, resources and environment and to meet the requirementsof achieving a harmonious development by coordinating human being and the nature.

In related developments, the State Statistical Bureau (SSB) and the State Environmental Protection Administration are jointly working on the criteria for the so-called green GDP, which will include the costs in environmental, biological and resources fields into account when governments of all levels calculate economic development.

Beginning this year, the new methods will be adopted at local levels as an initial step of the statistical changes in pursuit ofa green GDP, said Yao Jingyuan, general economist of the SSB.

In Beijing, the national capital, as well as Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu provinces, local governments have adopted the new statistical way for a few years.

Hu Angang, a noted economist, said it marks China's transition from "black development", which gives top priority to growth, to "green development", which pursues a comprehensive and balanced development.

In 1997, the World Bank created the methods to count Green National Product (GNP), which could produce a real national product by bringing into calculation of losses in natural assets including environmental costs.

Cheng Jusheng, a deputy of the National People's Congress and general manager of a major railway construction company, said China has paid heavy costs in environment and resources in its efforts to develop economy while neglecting environmental protection.

While China's GDP has been growing rapidly, its GNP is in red, said Li Peilin, a researcher of the Institute of Sociology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

According to Li, China's per-capita water resource is 2,500 cubic meters, only one fourth of the world's average and the unit cost of resources and energy for local industries is four times ofthat of the world's average.

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