Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Centlemen:

　　First of all, on behalf of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), I wor ld like to extend my warm congratulation on the opening of the Second Session of the Second International Cooperation Committee on China's Environment Developme nt.

　　The formulation and implementation of Agenda 21 and the maintenance of sustainab le development is not only a strategic choice for the harmonize development of t he economy and the environment, but also a higher requirement for our economic e fforts. As an organization responsible for adjusting short - term national econo mic operation, SETC attaches great importance to the transformation of the econo mic growth mode and the sustainable development of our economy. We stress the im plementation of Agenda 21 in all our economic work, and designate efficient util isation of resources and environmental protection one of our priorities.

　　Seventy percent of the pollution in China comes from industrial operation and th e emission of three are two approaches to industrial pollution prevention and tr eatment. One is the traditional "bottom - up" control, that is, the post - pollu tion treatment which is costly and difficult. The other approach, and also the b est mode of industrial pollution prevention and the realization of sustainable e conomic development, is prepollution prevention, which is control from teh begin ning and through the whole process of production with the aim of improving energ y efficiency and reducing wastes emission. Our Commission has, in recent years, actively boosted the prevention and treatment of industrial pollution and the ha rmonized development of the economy and the environment by supporting energy con servation and consumption reduction, comprehensve utilisation of resources, deve lopment and utilisation of new and renewable energy, and clean production.

　　The first aspect of our work is to reduce wate emissions through energy conserva tion and consumption reduction. The measures include:

　　(1)to legalize energy conservation and consumption reduction. The National Peopl e's Conference has approved the Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China and it took effect on 1 January 1998. At present, the supplementary re gulations and standards are being established to build up the supervision and en forcement system;

　　(2)to carry out a publicity campaign with the subject of "legalised utilisation of energy and raising energy efficiency" and conduct training courses in various forms to raise, among the people, the awareness of energy conservation;

　　(3)to undertake key model projects in such fields as clean coal combustion techn ology, power and electronic electricity saving, industrial boiler renovation wit h advanced technology, kiln and furnace engineering with a view to the recycled use of spare energy and pressure and waste heating, and to upgrade energy conser vation technology; and

　　(4)to organize the implementation of the China Energy Conservation Promotion Pro ject sponsored by the World Bank and the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and to ma ke it play its role in the field of energy saving.

　　The second aspect of our work is to fully practice the comprehensive utilisation of resources and change the "three wastes" into resources for maximum utilisati on and reduce their hazards. We will realize benefits to the economy, the enviro nment and society all at the same time through the combination of comprehensive utilisation and environmental protection. The measures include:

　　(1)to improve the legal system. The State Council has approved the Opinions on F urthering the Comprehensive Utilisation of Resources submitted by SETC and other relevant organizations under the State Council. On this basis, SETC is urging l ocal authorities to formulate and implement regional reulations and rules. We ha ve also organised the establishment and implementation of the management Measure s on the Comprehensive Utilisation of Flyash and the Management Measures on the Comprehensive Utilisation of Gangue with other relevant organizations under the State Council;

　　(2)to establish and enforce the preferential policies and relevant regulations s uch as tax slash incentives for enterprises which carry out comprehensive use of resources to support and guide enterprises to actively practice the comprehensi ve utilization of wastes; and

　　(3)to step up publicity efforts and undertake a national campaign, to spread the idea of "much can be done for comprehensive utilisation" to raise everyone's co nscioueness of resources and environment and to make comprehensive utilization a voluntary act by everyone.

　　The third aspect is to accelerate the development and industrialization of new a nd renewable energy. The development of new and renewable energy is key componen t of energy restructuring, environmental protection and sustainable development. Our priorities in recent years have been the development of wind power, solar e nergy for lighting, generating and heating, and large and medium - scaled indust rial biogas model projects. We are currently co - operating with GEF, the World Bank and UNDP to carry out projects to speed up the commercialization of China's new and renewable energy development and utilisation.

　　The fourth aspect of our work is to organize the establishment of pilot model pr ojects of clean production, and to vigorously promote the control of the whole p roduction process. The measures are:

　　(1)to publicize and to conduxt training to change the traditional ideas about pr evention and treatment of industrial pollution. The idea of clean production has gradually been accepted by China's enterprises and the business community throu gh these efforts;

　　(2)to establish a number of model projects of clean production, and to combine c lean production with enterprises' management improvement, energy saving, consump tion and pollution reduction; and

　　(3)to realize Agenda 21 and to implement China's Clean Production Policies and M anagement Project, which is among the first priority projects planned in Agenda 21 and also one of the cooperation projects between Canada and China. With the s trong support of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), this project has been going on smoothly since its formal establishment in March 1997. Some ac hievements have won the praise of the Canadian project experts.

　　The fifth aspect is to focus on the efficient use of resources and environmental protection in our economic restructuring to meet the requirements for pollution prevention and control and sustainable development. For those enterprises with high energy consumption, low profitability and heavy pollution, we shut them dow n, stop their production and let them merge with other enterprises, or make them turn to the production of other products. We have also limited the production o f products with high consumption, low quality, heavy pollution and poor sales or replaced them with other products. One of our major tasks of restructuring is t o eliminate out - deted products, techniques and equipment.

　　The sixth aspect of our work is to regard resource saving and comprehensive util isation as a key point in technical renovation and to give priority to its devel opment in our technical introduction, innovation and renovation. Our pollution p revention level has been significantly raised through key technical development, introduction and renovation projects.

　　SETC has been entrusted by the State Council with thr responsibility of for the environmental protection industry since the governmental reshuffle. The environm ental protection imdustry is an important part of our national economy which can provide the technical assurance and the material basis for environmental protec tion and sustainable development. It will play a significant role in realizing t he strategic goals of our econonic and social development and maintaining its su stainability. We will continue to do our utmost to develoop the environmental pr otection in dustry and nizations, financial institutions, foreign governments an d enterpprises on energy conservation, comprehensive utilisation of resources an d enterprises on energy conservation, comprehensive utilisation of resources, ne w energy development, clena production and the environmental protection in dustr y to contribute to China's sustainable development, clean production and the env ironmental protection industry to contribute to China's sustainable development through our joint efforts.

　　Thank you.

　　(This speech was presented on 18 Nov'98.)