China unveils massive budget to tackle pollution

Saying pollution control is vital to the stability of the country, it plans to spend $156 billion on a five-year programme

BEIJING - China has approved an unprecedented 700 billion yuan (S$156 billion) budget for a five-year nationwide plan to turn the tide on pollution devastating many cities and rural areas.

The government is allocating the record sum - nearly double the amount spent on pollution control in the 1996-2000 period - to achieve the plan's objectives of curbing air and water pollution and protecting ecological environments.

'Never has the Chinese government put the environment in such an important position,' said Mr Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa).

'It is vital to the stability and prosperity of our country and people.'

The plan, which was approved recently by the State Council, China's Cabinet, comes at a time when pollution has reached alarming levels.

For example, most residents in Changsha, capital of southern Hunan province, have had to wear gauze masks to avoid inhaling the pollutants in the air lately.

'I dare not go out in the morning or open windows to air my room. Even the quilts being dried outside are soiled by the air,' said an elderly man in Changsha, whose skyline is dotted with factory chimneys belching acrid black smoke that shrouds the city.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said this month that China's environment was facing dismal prospects as a growing population, rapid urbanisation and industrialisation wreaked havoc on an already precarious ecological balance.

'We must be clear-headed and recognise that our environmental situation continues to be serious. The outlook is not optimistic,' he was quoted by the leading People's Daily as telling environmental planners.

He said environmental pressures would increase as more people moved to cities and demanded faster industrialisation.

A key problem in China's efforts to improve the environment is lack of awareness and concern on the part of local officials, who turn a blind eye to environmental damages, partly due to shortsightedness and greed.

The new plan details goals of pollution control, indices for evaluation of the work, and measures to guarantee implementation of environmental protection measures.

By 2005, the total amount of major substances that pollute the air, water and soil, including sulphur dioxide, industrial dust and solid wastes, will be cut by 10 per cent from the level of 2000, according to the plan.

The plan will focus on reducing air and water pollution, and cleaning up some heavily polluted rivers, lakes, and seas.

Mr Xie said the central government has promised to inject 65 billion yuan to initiate key projects, but local governments and enterprises that discharge pollutants would be responsible for most of the investment.

More than half the total investment will be spent on environmental protection facilities in cities, on the clean-up of major rivers, and protection of the ecological environment.

The government would also be stepping up measures to address a half decade of drought in China's northern regions which was exacerbating water shortages and worsening desertification and dust storms, he said.--AFP, Xinhua