New drive to lower emissions in China

Pollution reduction goal set

CHINA plans to increase the output of its environmentalprotection equipment industry to 500 billion yuan (R591bn) by 2015. The country is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon emissions globally.

The plan targets 20 percent annual rises in equipment output for the five-year period to 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement. The goals will more than double the output which had reached 200 billion yuan by the end of 2010.

The government wants to cut carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 17 percent a unit of gross domestic product in its five-year plan to 2015, spurring demand for equipment to save energy and protect the environment. The country estimates that investment to treat environmental pollution will reach 3.1 trillion yuan in five years.

The plan focuses on machines that ease pollution of air and water in industries including coal-fired power, iron, cement, paper and textiles. Other equipment includes those for treating solid waste, controlling noise and monitoring the environment. Exports of environmental-protection equipment will be raised by more than 30 percent a year to 10 billion yuan by 2015.

The country would invest more than 2 billion yuan at the initial stage in building 1 500 environment monitoring stations nationwide, said Wu Xiaoqing, the vice minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.