At Beijing green industry forum where governmental officials and business executives gathered, the major topic is how to develop green and clean technology, which is emerging as one of the critical factors in reshaping the world economy.

Zhou Tienong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, speaks at the China International Green Industry Forum 2010 Wednesday in Beijing.  [China.org.cn]

China's rapid economic growth has surprised some over the last decades, but this growth has come at a heavy cost – severe pollution of the country's air, soil and water. Facing multiple pressures stemming from a degrading environment and shrinking resources, China must immediately change its economic growth pattern that depends heavily on massive energy consumption, and there is no way of avoiding it.

Clean energy resources and clean technology will become the engine of China's future economy. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan that runs through 2015 underpins its determination to nurture a green economy and build an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly society.

"This is not only the target that China aims to realize, but also a sincere promise that China will never renege on its pledge to tackle the deteriorating environment," Zhou Tienong, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said at the forum.

Efforts thus far have paid off, according to Zhou, who cited data that stated energy consumption per unit of economic output has decreased 15.6 percent from the level four years ago; 490 million tons of coal was saved; and 1.13 billion tons of CO2 was reduced.

China is also prepared to play an important role in what would be the biggest market of the 21st century – the green market.

With 25,000 megawatts overall, China has doubled its total installed wind capacity in each of the last five years, making it the No.3 country behind the United States and Germany.

Home to one-third of the globe's solar-energy manufacturing capacity and several hundred solar-energy companies such as Jiangsu-based Suntech, China has established itself as one of the world's leading producers of solar power equipment.

There will be potentially millions of jobs and trillions in revenue emerging from the green economy. The fast-growing clean technology sector is one of the few that can offer a significant number of new jobs.

China's green industry generated 1,700 billion yuan and created 2.7 million jobs in 2009, Zhou said at the forum.

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, a US-based private foundation, China's investment and financing for clean energy reached nearly US$34.6 billion in 2009, almost double America's US$18.6 billion, primarily due to domestic policies that promote the use of renewable energy.

"Clean technology offers a way of rebuilding a new economic pattern that enables us to achieve economic growth while preserving nature," said Jiang Yaoping, vice minister of commerce. "The low-carbon economy is definitely the future."