Isra-Mart srl:Top Chinese official warns pollution harms growth prospects

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Isra-Mart srl news:

The Chinese government has again signaled that its upcoming five year plan will incorporate tough new environmental rules and increased investment in clean technology after the nation's environment minister offered an explicit warning that environmental damage was harming the country's growth prospects.

Writing today in his ministry's newsletter, Zhou Shengxian reportedly provided one of the bluntest assessments of China's environmental challenges offered to date by a senior government official.

"In China's thousands of years of civilization, the conflict between humanity and nature has never been as serious as it is today," he wrote. "The depletion, deterioration and exhaustion of resources and the deterioration of the environment have become serious bottlenecks constraining economic and social development."

The essay appears to be part of a co-ordinated attempt by the government to prepare the ground for its next five year plan, which is widely expected to herald a major acceleration in the country's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and develop a more sustainable economic model.

In addition, Premier Wen Jiabao reportedly said over the weekend that the country should aim for cleaner growth, while reports earlier this month confirmed that vice premier Li Kequiang has similarly called for major green tax reforms and energy saving initiatives as part of the next five year plan.

According to various reports, the plan, which is expected to be finalised later this month, will see $1.5tr invested over the next five years in a range of high tech industries, including alternative energy, energy-efficient technologies, advanced materials, and alternative-fuel cars.

Zhou warned that such investments in cleaner technologies are essential if long-term economic growth is to be maintained.

He also revealed that the environment ministry will play an increasingly proactive role in tackling pollution and is working on a "risk assessment system for atmospheric pollutants and climate change" that will see the climate change impact of new projects considered before they get the go-ahead.