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China Able to
Achieve Sustainable Growth: Forum Participants China is capable of solving environmental problems and achieving sustainable economic development while maintaining rapid growth and improving people's living standards, according to participants at the ongoing '99 Fortune Global Forum. China will settle environmental problems just as it has done with other difficulties, for Chinese people are more and more conscious of the importance of environmental protection, said participants at a discussion on energy and the environment held September 28. Over the past 20 years, when the reform and opening-up policies were implemented, China has become one of the countries developing most rapidly, with an annual growth rate of 9.7 percent on average. At the same time, environmental problems, including industrial pollution, soil erosion, and the dwindling of arable land, have had a severe negative impact on economic development in some areas. However, China has paid attention to these problems and a series of effective measures have been taken to prevent and control pollution, said Kenneth L. Lay, Chairman and CEO of ENRON of the United States. "One of the most remarkable changes in China is that everyone is very concerned about the environment," said Lay, who compared the situation with that 12 years ago when he came to the country for the first time. Over the past decade, China has made environmental protection a state policy and has enacted some 15 related laws. Last year, its investment in environmental protection reached a record 81.8 billion yuan, accounting for more than one percent of its gross domestic product. Goran Lindahl, President and CEO of Switzerland's ABB Ltd., said that China will gain a sustainable growth, although it will not be as fast as the development of information technology. Michael R. Bonsignore, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell Inc. of the United States, said that China has great potential in environmental protection. For instance, he said, it can replace coal with other kinds of energy, such as wind, oil and natural gas, all abundant in the country. According to the participants, the biggest challenge facing China in environmental protection now is the lack of funds and technology, and this indeed has provided many opportunities for investors. Liang Congjie, president of the Friends of Nature, a non- governmental environmental protection organization in China, said that more practical efforts should be made to further increase the public's awareness of the importance of environmental protection. (Xinhua) |
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