A joint initiative of the Worldwatch Institute and Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI), China Watch reports on energy, agriculture, population, water, health, and the environment in China—with an emphasis on big-picture analysis relevant to policy makers, the business community, and non-governmental organizations.
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.
Few fledgling nongovernmental organizations can claim the kind of success that Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute (GEI) has enjoyed: an operating budget of half a million dollars, a board comprised of internationally prominent environmental professionals, an impressive portfolio of projects, and even a spin-off organization.
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
