Beijing Invests RMB100 Billion for Environmental Protection in 10 YearsDuring the period of 2003 to 2007, Beijing will invest 54 billion yuan in environment protection and control, plus the 46 billion yuan for the 1998-2002 period, Beijing will spend as much as 100 billion yuan on its environment protection and control during the 10 years, which will account for 4 percent of Beijing's GDP in the same period.Since late 1998, Beijing has reportedly adopted altogether 82 concrete measures to control air, water and garbage pollution, and has adjusted its distribution of industry and industrial structure. At present, all these measures have achieved good result, as evidenced by the fact that the concentration of nitrogenous oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, a matter to the utmost concern of citizens, has dropped considerably. The annual number of days on which air quality is above the second grade has increased from 26 percent in 1998 to 31.2 percent in 1999, and 45 percent are expected this year. At the present stage, Beijing is focusing on controlling particles which can be breathed into the body and making efforts to control dust, to promote the use of new energy and to meet the set standard of tail gas. It's predicted that by 2000, the environment quality of Beijing will be fundamentally improved. An official said that by 2007, the forest coverage rate of Beijing will increase from the current 41 percent to 50 percent, 100 percent of the garbage will be decontaminated, 90 percent of the sewage will be disposed of, the usage of natural gas will increase from the current 1.8 billion cubic meters to 4 billion cubic meters and industrial enterprises of heavy pollution will all be moved out of the urban area. |
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