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Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao Meets German Delegation
Chinese Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao met Tuesday, December 12, with a German delegation that is here to attend a two-day environmental cooperation conference between China and Germany.
Wen said the Chinese government attaches great importance to the conference, which was initiated by Premier Zhu Rongji and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder last year.
"The Sino-German relationship has developed well and trade between the two countries has potential," Wen told Germany's Minister of Environment Juergen Trittin and Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, key members of the delegation.
Trittin said that Germany values its relationship with China, noting that the two countries should enlarge cooperation in environmental protection.
The German minister added that the development of industries related to environmental protection can push forward the economy.
Environment Conference OpensA conference on environmental cooperation between China and Germany opened Tuesday in Beijing, and Chinese Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out at in his speech
that China has generally turned around the deterioration of the
environment.
During 1996 and 2000, "discharge of major pollutants has decreased by 15 percent from the previous five-year period, and the worsening of environmental conditions has basically been put under control," Wen said.
He said that China's national strength over the past two decades has increased steadily, which provided strong financial and technological support to environmental protection.
Regarding environmental protection as a basic national policy, China has put more money into the area, the vice-premier said.
"Investment in environmental protection during the past five years is 1.75 times the figure for the previous five-year period," he said.
In pollution control, China has sought international cooperation with Germany and other countries to acquire state-of-the-art technology and sound management methods, he said.
"We are willing to strengthen cooperation in this field with Germany on the basis of equality and mutual benefits," Wen added.
Apart from tackling domestic problems, China is also an active partner in the protection of the global environment, he said.
During the country's ninth five-year planning period (1996-2000), China has readjusted its industrial structure, closed down a number of heavily-polluting enterprises and introduced new technology for environmentally-friendly production, said Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration.
With these efforts, the environmental protection goal set by the state has basically been accomplished, Xie said, citing the control of pollution in key rivers and emission of sulfur dioxide in cities.
Over the past five years, China invested a record 346 billion yuan, or 0.94 percent of its gross domestic production, into environmental protection Xie told an audience of some 900 at the two-day conference.
German Minister of Environment Juergen Trittin made a speech on the environment at the conference, calling for closer ties between China and Germany in environmental cooperation.
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