Shanghai Hosts Int'l Symposium on Sustainable DevelopmentMore than 200 scholars and entrepreneurs from home and abroad attended an international symposium on Shanghai's ecology, environment and sustainable development, which opened in Shanghai Thursday.The three-day meeting, sponsored by the Shanghai Association for Promoting Overseas Friendship and two other associations, aims to raise more ideas for improving Shanghai's sustainable development. Xu Kuangdi, Shanghai's mayor, delivered a report at today's session on Shanghai's achievement in economic development and environmental protection over the past few years. He said that Shanghai has become more aware of the urgency to protect the environment. Under a three-year plan, three percent of the city's annual gross domestic product (GDP) will be devoted to the environment, which is expected to reach 12 billion yuan (1.4 billion US dollars) this year. By 2002, 96 percent of urban residential waste will be properly treated. The greenery coverage rate in the downtown area will be above 25 percent, Xu said. He also pictured Shanghai's future as an energy-efficient metropolis. By 2005, the output of the high-tech industries is expected to account for 35 percent of the city's total. The meeting will continue to discuss urban planning, the utilization of natural resources and the green industry in the next two days. |
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