Vice-Governor of Shandong Province
I deem it a great honour to be specially invited to this meeting. According to our schedule, I will brief you on the environmental protection strategies of Shandong Province.
Shandong Province is in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and close to both the Bo Sea and the Huang Sea in the east. Its area is 156,700 km2 and the present population is more then 87 million people. Since 1979, when the policy of reform and opening to the outside was implemented, the economy in Shandong province has increased to an average rate of 12.1% per year. The goal of quadrupling the domestic product (GDP) was reached in Shandong Province in 1993, seven years earlier than the originally planned date. Economic development then entered fast t rack. However, at that time, we clearly recognized that to ensure fast, sustainable and sound economic development, to realize the transition of Shandong Province from extensive economy to intensive economy, and to safeguard the offspring's long-term interests, a sustainable development strategy must be implemented in order to ensure economic development in coordination with the environment. With that in mind, the following are the main environmental protection measures and act ions taken in Shandong province.
1. Establishing "Three Mechanisms" and Improving "Three Systems" to Facilitate Environmental Protection to Take the Path of Normalization
(1) Establishing the comprehensive policy making mechanism to prevent environmental pollution and ecological destruction at the policy sources.
This means that when governments at all levels make key policies of social and economic development, they should adhere to the policy of "Three Coherences", plan social-economic development and environmental protection as a whole and make the policies comprehensive to avoid the old route of "Treatment after pollution". The environmental protection goals are integrated into the middle and long term planning and the yearly plan for economic and social undertakings when the government works out planning.
The supporting ability of the environment and resources should be taken into full consideration when development speed is decided.
The environmental impact assessment must be strictly carried out, and the system of rejecting a project by one environmental impact vote must firmly be obeyed when determining the important projects such as zone exploitation, urban n development, resources allocation, and distribution of productivity forces.
The need for environmental protection must be fully considered when outlining the economic policies of industry, prices, and taxation, as well as import and export.
(2) Establishing the mechanism of collecting funds for environmental protection to form a normal fund-guaranteed channel.
The mechanism of collecting funds for environmental protection has been gradually built up, which is 'polluters treat, users pay, exploiters protect, saboteurs compensate, and government increases input'. A stable and effective channel for investment in environmental protection was thus opened up.
Investments in the comprehensive treatment of pollution in the key basins and trans-regions, and in environmental protection demonstration projects, have been listed in the fixed estate of government investment.
Special funds for urban wastewater treatment plant construction and for pollution control in the key pollution industries have been set up.
Collection, management and use of the pollution levy fee have been strengthened.
All the enterprises in Shandong Province had to meet the fund demands for pollution prevention and control, first on their own and collecting their own funds.
All the banks have enlarged the scale of their loans for environmental protection projects and initiatives.
The government published favorable policies to encourage enterprises to control their pollution.
Foreign funds were also actively brought into the province and used. Last year, more than RMB 3.2 billion Yuan was directly used in pollution prevention and treatment in Shandong Province.
(3) Establishing the mechanism of check-up, awards and penalties of the administrative leader's environmental responsibility to further strengthen the leadership in environmental protection.
In order to promote the gradual improvement of the environmental quality, environmental protection and quality have been one of the main indexes to evaluate the governments work and to rate the results of chief executives. In our province, the system of 'the Heads of the party committee, peoples' congress and the government each stressing environmental protection and the chief executives assuming full responsibility for environmental quality' has been implemented.
The government at all levels has put the environmental responsibility system into practices and signed the responsibility contracts with the environmental bureau and their superiors.
Both the Temporary Methodology for Check-up the Real Achievements in Environmental Protection of the Leaders and Cadres, and the Temporary Rules for Administrative Disciplinary Measures when Violating Environmental Protection Programs have been issued and implemented, are examined annually, and are executed by the department of environmental protection, the department of personnel and departmental supervisory organs.
(4) Establishing the system of controlling the total discharge of pollutants to bring environmental pollution under control effectively.
Previously, only concentration-based pollution discharge standards were adopted to limit concentration of effluents and emissions. Now total-mass-based discharge standards have also been implemented, which can regulate both quantity and concentration of the discharge of pollutants, thus achieving the goal of 'not increasing the pollution discharge while raising the output'.
In Shandong Province, a detailed implementation scheme was developed, and the work of the environmental functional divisions and the registration of pollutant discharge have been finished. The system of controlling the total discharge of the pollutants was carried out on a trial basis in the Basins of Nansi Lake and the Xiaoqing River; preliminary effective results have been obtained. Now the system is being extended in the whole province.
(5) Perfecting the regulatory framework for environmental protection and continuously building and strengthening the environmental protection legal system.
The issue of local environmental legislation has been expedited in our Province. Up to now, twenty-eight local laws, regulations, and administrative documents for environmental protection have been issued and published. A good example is Shandong Provincial Environmental Protection Regulations. Therefore, there are laws to abide by and rules to follow in environmental protection in Shandong Province.
Meanwhile, law enforcement has been continuously reinforced. Last year, the compliance rate and the yield of the Three Synchronisations were both 100% for large and medium-sized projects, and above 90% for other projects. More than 2,500 cases of various violations of the environmental laws were examined and dealt with earnestly and seriously.
The activity called "The Century Trip to Qilu (Shandong Province) Environmental Protection" has been launched for five years in succession. Inspection and check- up on the implementation of environmental protection has thus been strengthened.
The activity called "The Century Trip to Qilu (Shandong Province) Environmental Protection" has been launched for five years in succession. Inspection and check -up on the implementation of environmental protection has thus been strengthened.
Dissemination and education on environmental protection were also widely developed and spread, and the public's environmental consciousness has obviously intensified.
(6) Improving the management system of environmental protection, trying hard to raise the environmental management level.
Environmental protection institutional capacity has been enhanced in Shandong Province. The management organizations and monitoring institutions at the provincial, municipal and county levels are being perfected.
Additionally, in both the macro-economic management departments and the competent departments of industry and large and medium-sized enterprises, special environmental protection organizations were set up.
Therefore, an environmental protection management system, which is led by the Party committee, which is inspected by the people's congress, which is the responsibility of the government, which is uniformly supervised and managed by environmental protection departments, which is managed and coordinated in unison by related departments, and which is joined and supported by people in all walks of life, h as been formed in our Province.
2. Putting Basin Environmental Comprehensive Treatment into Practice to Quickening Water Pollution Treatment
Shandong Province is part of a developing country, and as such is short of funds for pollution treatment, Only when our strength and commitment are concentrated on the sequential treatment of basin after basin, and only when each treatment is ensured success, can the limited funding available give full play to pollution control.
Therefore, in line with the principle of 'Emphasizing on the Point Pollution Treatment to Guarantee the Environmental Treatment of the Basins, Stressing the Environmental Treatment of Basins to Accelerate Point Pollution Control', we took the Nansi Lake, the Yishu River and the Dongping Lake, sub-basins of the Huai Rive r Basin, and the Xiaoqing River Basin as the key points of pollution control, an d strengthened pollution treatment. In 1994, the Planning Commission, the Environental Protection Bureau, and the Financial Department, and 12 related municipalities to undertake the "Comprehensive Treatment Planning" for the key basins of the Nansi Lake, the Dongping Lake and the Xiaoqing River, which took the basins' functions of drainage, flood prevention, irrigation, cultivation and tourism into full consideration. The planning was approved and authorized for implementation by the Provincial Peoples' Congress. The Provincial People's Congress and Government issued The Nansi Lake Basin Water Pollution Prevention and control Regulation, The Xiaoqing River Basin Water Pollution Prevention and Control Regulation, and The Yishu River Basin Water Pollution Prevention and Control Management Methodology.
The Basin Environmental Management Committee and their executive organizations we re also established. The funds for environmental pollution control of the basins were collected from various channels. Therefore, the comprehensive environmental treatment of the basins was accelerated. Now in the four basins, all the 801 enterprises which were small in size, causing severe pollution, and using backward technology (shiwu tuxiao), and which were distributed across fifteen industries, have all been eliminated, closed, or required to stop production. Five hundred twenty-two key polluters were ordered to treat their pollution within a given deadline. Sixty percent of these have finished the tasks at this time; the polluted river beds have also been treated. These above measures have improved the water quality somewhat.
3. Raising Pollution Control Level by Closing Small-sized Enterprises and Treating Medium and Large-sized Enterprises to Promote the Sound Development of the Economy
We have established the guiding ideology of 'promoting development, seeking economic benefits and ensuring social stability by pollution control, trying our best to achieve the unity of social, economic, and environment benefits'. We have also put forward the guiding principle of 'treating the backward enterprises, protecting the advanced enterprises, giving due consideration to the facts, acting according to circumstances, and adopting one measure in one factory' for pollution control. The way of the "four combinations" is always insisted on - pollution treatment to meet the standard requirements must be combined with structural inn ovations, combined with comprehensive utilization of resources, and combined wit h enterprises getting rid of 'economic' trouble and difficulty.
Small-sized but heavy polluting enterprises were ordered to close by the provincial government. Last year in the whole province, more than 2,000 such small-size d enterprises were either closed, ceased production, merged with other enterprises, or turned to production with less pollution. Six hundred and six heavy polluting industries, which had an ability to control their pollution, were required t o treat the pollution within a given deadline by the provincial government.
From 1995 to 1996, although the number of pulp and papermaking enterprises decreased from 717 to 255, the total output of paper production in Shandong Province rose from 2.3 million tons to 3.35 million tons. While the discharge of CO2 from the pulp making industry was cut by 350,000 tons, the taxes and profits were in creased by 500 million RMB Yuan.
In the cement industry, as a result of technical innovation in recent years, the shaft kilns which generated severe pollution and dust, and which were high consumers of energy, were re-constructed into large and medium-sized rotary kilns.
In the distillery and coal mining industries, comprehensive utilization of resources and waste products has been realized. The original waste of distilled slags and coal refuse are now converted into fodder and construction materials respectively, turning waste into treasured by-products. The pollution charges against these companies have been greatly lowered, and the economic benefits and market competitive capacity have been raised in these enterprises.
On the basis of this work, the Spanning-the-Century Project of One Hundred Enterprises Treating their Pollution to Meet Required Standards was planned and will e implemented in Shandong Province this year. In other words, on hundred large and medium-sized enterprises were selected to adopt clean technology and to spread cleaner production in order to promote their sound economic development.
4. Carrying Forward Environmental Protection in an All-round Way, the Results and Effectiveness of the Urban Environmental Comprehensive Control and Ecological Construction are thus apparent
We took the comprehensive treatment of the urban environment as a very important requirement to improve environmental quality and raise the level of modernization. We worked out the total planning for quickening the construction of urban modernization in Shandong Province.
The protection of urban drinking water resources has always received great attention. Across the entire province, 11 urban wastewater treatment plants have constructed and are operating, with a total treatment capacity of 580,000 tons per day. Additionally, nine plants are under construction, each with a planned daily capacity of 780,000 tons.
Many kinds of fuel were utilized to generate urban gas. Currently, the ratio of urban folk gasification is up to 77% and that of urban solid waste comprehensive treatment and disposal is up to 70%. 'Green coverage' in urban areas has also increased significantly.
Additionally, the treatment against water loss and soil erosion has started, along with de-salinisation of land and construction of sea breaches. Ecological agriculture and afforestation in mountainous area are being actively developed, while construction and management of natural preservation zones was strengthened. Now, in Shandong Province, forest coverage is up to 20%, three million hectares of land have been treated for water loss and soil erosion, and 200 hectares of saline and alkaline land has been reclaimed. As well, 2.6 million hectares of ecological agricultural demonstration zones and 310,000 hectares of natural preservation z ones have been set up.
In Shandong Province, we have tackled the relationship between economic development and environmental protection, and have seriously implemented a sustainable development strategy. This has resulted in the effective control of the deteriorating environmental and ecological quality while ensuring the rapid development of economic construction. During the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the annual economic growth rate was 16.7%, and last year the GDP of Shandong Province Re ached 596 billion RMR yuan. However, from the viewpoint of provincial environmental quality, it can be found that the environmental quality in the east coastal zone has taken an obvious turn for the better, while the environmental quality in the middle and west region remains basically at the level of the early 1990s.
Although some results have been forthcoming from the environmental protection work undertaken in our Province, weak links in the process still exist and our achievements have fallen behind the national requirements. During the period of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, and into the next century, Shandong Province will continue to have a growing economy as well as a good environment. The province will continue economic construction, put national environmental protection policies into effect, implement sustainable development strategies, and strengthen environmental protection. We will try our best to develop our economy in harmony with our environment.
Thank you.
