Distinguished Mr. Chairman,

　　Distinguished Committee Members,

　　Ladies and Gentlemen,

　　Good afternoon! It is my great pleasure to be with you and brief you, on behalf of the Xiamen Municipal Government, about what we have learned from our experiences on the way to sustainable development.

　　Situated in the southeast coast of China and separated from Taiwan and Jinmen only by a strip of water, Xiamen is a beautiful seaport city covering an area of 1,516 square kilometers and with a population of one million people. As an island city with mild climate and colourful scenery, Xiamen has long enjoyed the name of "Garden on the Sea". Mr. Nixon, the former President of the United States, praised Xiamen as one of the most beautiful cities he had ever visited.

　　With the establishment of Xiamen Special Economic Zone in 1980 with the approval of the State Council, the social and economic development of Xiamen has been going full steam ahead. The year 1996 witnessed a GDP value of RMB 30.8 billion Yuan, with an annual average growth of 20.5%, and an average GDP per capita of RMB 25,000 Yuan. In 1996, GDP was 19.7 times bigger than 1980, while per capita GDP was 14.3 times that of 1980 on comparable price. The urban area has been extended d to 60.9 square kilometers, 2.7 times increase. The port handling capacity has also increased, by 8.2 times, and the container handling capacity is ranked the 76th in the world. The annual average income per capita was RMB 8,456 Yuan for t he urban population and RMB 3,324 Yuan for the rural population, each respectively representing a 19.4 and 14.7 times increase over 1980 rates. After accounting for inflation, the real rate of increase in the annual average income for the urban population was about 7%, With 17 years of construction and development, the overall economic strength of Xiamen has distinctively strengthened, the city ha s taken on an entirely new look, and the peoples living standard has evidently improved (Figure 1).

　　In the course of rapid social and economic development, urban expansion and population increase, the Xiamen Municipal Government has been carrying out the principle of taking `environmental protection as the basic state policy' and taking active measures to protect and improve environmental quality. As a result, environmental quality in Xiamen has seen improvement rather than deterioration. In 1996, the air quality in Xiamen achieved the First Class State Standard (Figure 2), while both water quality (Figure 3, which shows the case of pollution control in the Yuandang Lake) and environmental noise quality (Figure 4) came up to the State Standards for the relevant functional zone, The improvement of the investment environments in Xiamen also promoted sustainable, rapid and healthy social and economic development (for further information, please refer to Home Page of Xianem Environmental Protection Bureau at http://www.xmepb.gov.cn)

　　The achievement of environmental protection in Xiamen results from the wise decision-making of municipal leaders and the strong public awareness of environmental protection. Taking environmental protection as one of its major functions and practical contribution to the communities, the municipal Government has been conscientiously carrying out state environmental protection principles and policies and enforcing relevant laws and regulations. The eight regulation systems stipulated in the Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China have been properly implemented, These are:

　　(1) the Environmental Impact Assessment System,

　　(2) the Three Simultaneous System (namely the devices of pollution control, and s o forth must be designed, built and put into operation simultaneously with the principal part of the project),

　　(3) the System of Charging on Effluent Discharge,

　　(4) the Waste Disposal Register and Permit System,

　　(5) the Target Responsibility System,

　　(6) the Quantitative Examination for integrated Management and Treatment System,

　　(7) the Concentrated Pollution Control System, and

　　(8) the System to Control Pollution.

　　At the same time, the environmental protection plan has been incorporated into the Master Plan of Xiamen, Based on the comprehensive decision-making of the Municipal Government, the government environmental protection input accounts for 1.85% of GDP in the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan, a figure higher then the national level. Xiamen has formulated and conscientiously enforced local environmental protection rules and regulations and set higher pollution discharge standards than those of the state. With their further capacity building, the environmental management, monitoring and science research institutions have exercised strict monitoring and management for the prevention of environmental pollution and ecological destruction. With intensive publicity, education and launch of various campaigns there has formed in Xiamen a framework of concentrated environmental monitoring and management by the governmental environmental protection department s in cooperation with other relevant governmental departments, and public participation. A system of environmental education, with special reference to the younger generations such as those in the kindergarten, primary school, middle school and environmental technical school, has been formed in Xiamen. The formulation of a social atmosphere with "everyone caring for the environment and everyone protecting the environment" has established a solid foundation for environmental protection undertakings at the grass roots level.

　　In addition, Xiamen insists on relying on scientific progress in the promotion of the environmental protection undertakings by equipping advanced monitoring facilities and staffing competitive science personnel. In solving the major environmental issues in Xiamen, such as environmental planning, coastal environmental capacity determination, acid rain studies and comprehensive pollution control and management programs, the unive3rsities, colleges, research institutions and environmental protection experts in the city were mobilized; this promoted the wise decision-making and successful implementation for the control of industrial pollution. Clean production technology has also been promoted in Xiamen, as indicated by the International Clean Production Technology Workshop sponsored in Xiamen b y UNEP in 1992.Inthe promotion of green product production, Xiamen has successfully developed green silk products. Xiamen has been active in organizing the examination and verification of ISO 14000 environmental management system, and has be en designated as the first pilot city for promoting the ISO 14000 system. Remote sensing information and GIS technology are used in Xiamen to indicate the change in urban environmental quality and to permit automation of our office information network. All the above endeavours have promoted environmental protection work in Xiamen as the city aspires to international levels.

　　In general, under the guidance of the comprehensive decision-making of the Municipal Government, the active participation of the broad masses, and the synchronous movement of 'four wheels' (resource input, legislation, publicity and science), the environmental protection work in Xiamen has been moving rapidly and resulted in the excellent synchronous and harmonized development of environment, economy and society.

　　The achievement of harmonized environmental protection and social and economic development in Xiamen has been affirmed by the state departments. Xiamen has won the titles of "State Hygienic City" and "State Garden City", More recently, Xiamen won the title of "State Model City of Environmental Protection", an honour wit h sustainable development strategy as its main spirit.

　　As a developing city in developing county, Xiamen is on the way of sustainable development with Chinese characteristics. Experiences in Xiamen have proved that environment and economy can not only be in harmony with each other but can also be beneficial to each other. It is not only imperative but it is also feasible t o implement sustainable development strategy. The Xiamen Municipal Government will firmly implement the sustainable development strategy, which is accepted all over the world and firmly fulfills international conventions and agreements contracted by the central government. In this way, we will build Xiamen into a city with rapid and healthy economic development, excellent environmental quality, and a sound ecological environment, thus making our due contribution to sustaining the Earth, life and the human civilization.