China to Pour 200 Billion Yuan into Pollution ControlChina's top environmental protector said Tuesday, December 12, that in the coming five years, the state will pour 200 billion yuan (US$24 billion) into 1,200 key environmental protection projects.The environmental protection industry in China will grow by an average annual rate of 20 percent from 2001 to 2005, Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, said at the ongoing China-Germany Environmental Cooperation Conference 2000, which opened Tuesday morning in Beijing. China plans to further reduce pollutant emission nationwide and effectively improve environmental quality in both urban and rural areas, as well as curb ecological deterioration, said Xie. When stepping into the new century, China will be confronted with more challenges in environmental protection, he added. After years of unswerving endeavor, Xie said, China has primarily controlled the pollution for the whole country. Meanwhile, he stressed, pollution is still an important issue facing the Chinese people, with some ecological conditions being worsened and the surrounding environment being destroyed. In the last five years, various levels of governmental bodies in the country sped up their campaign on environmental protection, which has helped raise the protection awareness among the general public. Statistics show that China spent approximately 346 billion yuan in environmental protection in the past five years, accounting for a record high of 0.93 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The total emission of 12 major pollutants in 2000 reduced by 15 percent from that in 1995. |
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