A proposal on China's environment consuming export industry is resonating among the political advisors who strongly argue that global consumption as well as domestic market has brought damages to the environment.
About 40 percent of China's export commodities come from industries producing high volume of sulfur dioxide, a main air pollutant, said the proposal tabled by the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party (CPWDP), one of the eight major non-Communist parties.
The proposal has been submitted to the First Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which opened here Monday.
And 44 percent of the country's export volume come from industries causing high amount of chemical oxygen demand (COD), a major index for water pollution, it said.
Coal-rich northern province of Shanxi contributed to 90 percent of China's total coke export in 2007, a major coke supplier to European steel factories, but the region suffered the worst pollution across the country, said Li Jinfeng, a CPPCC National Committee member and deputy director of the provincial commerce department.
"With export increasing, pollution worsens as well," Li said. "I have to say the environmental problems not only result from domestic consumption but also from the international market."
"The environment actually pays the price for the export miracle," said Wen Xiangcai, another CPPCC National Committee member and official of the environment monitoring network under the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
There are a cluster of uncomfortable figures when China reported export worth 1.22 trillion U.S. dollars and a trade surplus of 262.2 billion dollars in 2007.
On the other hand, 26 percent of surface water cannot be used for any purpose, 62 percent is not suitable for fish and 90 percent of the rivers running through cities are polluted, according to the SEPA.
In addition, environmental damages cause economic loss of 280 billion yuan (39 billion dollars) annually, equal to about 10 percent of the total gross domestic product (GDP).
A World Bank report said about 750,000 Chinese die earlier due to air pollution every year.
The CPWDP proposal said that an environmental impact assessment should be imposed on export policies, trade agreements and even staple orders so as to filter those that might lead to severe environment damages.
"Industrial policies should be eco-friendly," Li said, suggesting that the government give back more tax revenue to industries for updating environment remediation facilities.
Some political advisors also proposed that the country adopt tax policies benefiting eco-friendly industries and charging polluters.
"More penalty and reward measures in relevant laws and regulations shall be taken into account," Wen Xiangcai said.
The advisors appreciated the action of the SEPA in February to blacklist 141 commodities from six industries for causing serious pollution or posing serious environmental risks and suggest canceling tax refund of 39 of them after they were exported and banning the processing trade.
(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2008)