BEIJING - The State
Statistical Bureau (SSB) and the State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA) are jointly working on
criteria for a "green gross domestic product (GDP)",
which deducts the cost of environmental damage and
resources consumption from the traditional GDP.
According to an international seminar on "green
GDP" calculation held here Friday by the SSB and SEPA,
related departments will soon establish theoretical
systems and basic frameworks to evaluate the overall
environment and economy, set up indexes to calculate
pollutant materials and environmental costs and spread
the new index systems from experimental sites to other
areas.
The growth of the Chinese economy is
still of low efficiency and consumes huge resources,
said SSB Director Li Deshui, noting the introduction of
a "green GDP" index system has become an urgent and
crucial task for sustainable development.
In the
past 25 years, China has achieved an economic miracle
with average GDP growth at above 8 percent every year.
However, as GDP has become the main standard, or the
only standard in some regions, to evaluate the
government's performance, many local officials have
turned a blind eye to development in other fields,
including medical care, education, culture and
environmental protection.
The traditional GDP
index could not fully reflect the relationship between
economic growth and the environment, the environment and
people, said Niu Wenyuan, chief scientist on sustainable
development strategy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"If the current high-cost growth and serious
pollution continues, China will face a heavily polluted
environment and a serious shortage of natural resources
in the near future, which would not support its future
development," said Pan Yue, vice-director of the SEPA.
"We must adopt a scientific approach to the
current accounting system of GDP, a comprehensive
indicator of the economy," said Zeng Qinghong, Chinese
vice president, at a recent seminar on the subject.
Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the
only trial city designated by the SSB in 2001 for
developing the "green GDP" system, has studied data
collected from 1,415 local enterprises and non-profit
institutions. Based on the study, an initial feasible
"green" GDP accounting approach has come into effect.
"Traditionally an official who expands economic
growth at huge environmental cost may well be promoted
to a higher position, for he is evaluated mainly by the
GDP growth," said Pan Yue. The "Green GDP" is a more
rational norm to evaluate local officials' performances
and, in turn, China's overall economic achievements.
(Asia Pulse/XIC)
Jun 29, 2004
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