Over the last three years, the Chinese government has punished 33 multinational corporations for violating the nation’s environmental laws and regulations, according to Ma Jun, director of the nongovernmental Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs.
China’s Ministry of Finance and the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) have announced that starting in 2007, the nation’s central and provincial governments will prioritize their purchasing of environmentally friendly products and services.
China’s investment in environmental protection is projected to grow faster than the county’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to Jun Ma, Greater China chief economist with Deutsche Bank. By 2010, “green” investments will account for 1.6 percent of Chinese GDP, or 1.9 trillion yuan (US$242 billion), growing at an average rate of 16 percent a year until then.
In its Asian Development Outlook 2006 Update, launched on September 6, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) revised upward its economic growth forecast for China for 2006, from 9.5 percent to 10.4 percent. The Bank also projected full-year growth for 2007 at 9.5 percent.
Amidst consistently high economic growth, a visible consumer culture is emerging in urban China.
Despite record-shattering economic growth rates and swift industrialization, a major jobs crisis is brewing in mainland China.
As Beijing moves forward with construction for the 2008 Summer Olympics, project developers are embracing state-of-the-art energy technologies as well as measures to save water and protect sensitive ecosystems.
The gap between the Chinese and global pharmaceutical sectors has widened in recent years
As China’s tourism industry flourishes, the country is poised to become the world’s second largest travel and tourism economy after the United States by 2015, according to a new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Starting April 1, Chinese consumers who buy cars with engine capacities of more than four liters will be required to pay a consumption tax of 20 percent.
