Chinese Vice Premier Wen Jiabao said in Beijing on October 19 that the country will attach greater importance to environmental protection and pollution control while formulating its economic and social development plans.

　 The vice premier, who is also chairman of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED),told a CCICED meeting that the nation faces a tough environmental situation, saying that long-term concerted efforts are required to reverse this situation.

　 Wen said China will balance environmental protection and economic and social development by sticking to the policy of integrating economic and social development and the environment and eco-construction, relying on scientific and technological achievements, and legal and necessary administrative measures to promote environmental protection and pollution control.

　 The vice premier also listed international exchange and cooperation on environmental protection and development as part of the effort required for development and environmental protection.

　 China last year invested a total of 72 billion yuan (about 9 billion US dollars), or 0.91 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), in environmental protection and pollution control, the vice-premier said.

　 This investment represents an increase of 43 percent over the previous year.

　 For this year, environmental protection accounts for a large percentage of the national financial budget and the incremental national debt, he added.

　 Headway has been made in pollution control and environmental protection during the past two years thanks to the measures taken by the Chinese government, he said.

　 These measures include putting an end to overlapping construction, phasing out backward production processes and equipment, and closing down enterprises causing serious pollution in its ongoing strategic economic restructuring effort.

　 The council, which encompasses 25 high-level Chinese environmental protection-related officials and economists and 29 overseas environmental protection experts or officials, was set up in 1992 by the Chinese government as an advisory body on national environmental protection and sustainable development decision- making. (Xinhua)