Officials in northwest China’s Shaanxi province are calling for more
“green” investment and urging local governments not to sacrifice the
environment on the altar of economic growth.
“Governments in north Shaanxi should carefully assess the environmental
impact of investments, especially energy exploration projects, and
should not give a green light to those which threaten the environment.”
said Shaanxi governor Yuan Chunqing.
Yuan made the remark at the 11th Investment and Trade Forum for
Cooperation between East and West China which kicked off on April 6 in Xi’an,
capital of Shaanxi.
The event has drawn more than 4,000 foreign investors from 30
countries. Organizers said a key feature of this year’s event is the emphasis on
environment-friendly investment projects.
According to Yuan, the underdeveloped west regions should be on the
lookout for industries seeking to transfer pollution from the east.
“We have signed 157 contracts at this year’s forum, but not one of them
is a high energy-consuming or heavily-polluting venture.” said Yan
Ximin, director of the Xianyang City Investment Bureau in Shaanxi
province.
Yan said Xianyang has signed contracts on exploring the city’s
geothermal resources and developing tourism, an example of “green investment”.
“We prefer agricultural product processing, tourism and high-tech
industries. Coal-burning, water-wasting industries will not get a look-in,”
Yan said.
Foreign capital has also spotted business opportunities in the western
regions’ “green investment” initiative.
The British investment bank Climate Change Capital (CCC), which is
involved in clean energy and environmental protection, set up operations in
China last year. It plans to pump 500 million U.S. dollars over the
next five years into the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in the
country.
“We are holding talks with western provinces including Shaanxi, Shanxi
and Xinjiang on CDM projects. The ‘recycle economy’ in China’s west
offers huge business opportunities,” said Lu Yuebing, CCC president in
China.
China is already the world’s largest CDM credit provider having
approved more than 350 foreign-invested carbon reduction projects. Most of the
projects are in the western regions.
China’s western regions are a critical component in the country’s
energy structure. The region has 65 percent of the nation’s mineral deposits
and 76 percent of its water resources. The area bordering Shaanxi,
Shanxi and Inner Mongolia has about 60 percent of China’s verified coal
reserves.
However, western regions are prone to natural disasters such as drought
and sand storms. In some areas, where energy exploration projects have
multiplied in recent years, the ecosystem has deteriorated.
China has invested 110 billion yuan (14.2 billion U.S. dollars) on
protecting the environment in the western regions since 2000 and has set a
target of reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent
between 2006 and 2010.