China will continue to increase its financial investment in
eco-environmental protection and strengthen its policies in this
field, said Chinese Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng on
Thursday.
In
his presentation at a workshop entitled "Global Environment
Facility (GEF) and Environmental Protection in China", Xiang said
China was among the leading countries in developing and
implementing a strategy for sustainable development as a
follow-upto the Rio UN Conference on Environment and Development in
1992.
In
line with the strategy, the nation's public finances at all levels
have been dedicated to the promotion of environmental protection,
particularly in recent years, Xiang said.
Statistics show that China has invested a total of 580 billion yuan
(70 billion US dollars) in ecological and environmental protection
in the 1998-2002 period.
Xiang said the Chinese government will continue to formulate and
adjust fiscal policies related to environmental protection and
actively explore market-oriented mechanisms for channeling social
investment to environmental protection.
It
will also reinforce its environmental protection cooperation with
international organizations and multilateral development
institutions, so as to attract more international resources,
technologies and expertise in environmental protection, he said. In
recent years, the Ministry of Finance of China has formulated and
refined a series of rules and regulations governing the reform of
the user-charge mechanism for sewage discharge, the introduction of
fee-based services for sewage disposal and the comprehensive
management of land marine resources.
In
addition, the government seeks to encourage optimal use of
resources and clean, green production methods through incentives
such as taxation policies, Xiang said.
"Fiscal policies have been playing an increasingly important role
in promoting the coordinated development of the economy, society
and environment in China," Xiang said.
As
the largest developing country in the world, China has adopted
effective fiscal policies to achieve the dual goals of eradicating
poverty and protecting the environment. Statistics from the
Ministry of Finance show that, from 1998 to 2001, the central
government invested 427 billion yuan (51 billion US dollars) to
conserve the vegetation in central and western areas of China,
encouraging local farmers to turn over-cultivated land back into
woods and pastures by granting them allowances.
Xiang said China's eco-environmental projects are generating
tangible results. By the end of 2001, 1.18 million hectares of
farmland had been converted back into grassland and forests, and
1.1 million hectares of wasteland and barren mountains had been
planted with trees and grasses.
He
said China has also invested heavily in pollution control,
ecological protection, water resource utilization and
eco-technology promotion.
Xiang stressed that China will continue to participate in
international cooperation and exchange, mobilize bilateral and
multilateral concessional resources, and explore new funding
mechanisms for environmental protection.
( October 18, 2002)