BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao and
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan will head up a team tasked with ensuring the country's
energy consumption and pollution reduction targets stated in the Chinese
government's 2006-2010 five-year plan are met.
At a meeting of the State Council on Wednesday, Wen
said the country is in grave need of cutting energy consumption and pollution as
sectors with high energy consumption and high pollution are still having rapid
growth.
Wen said the government should regard it as an
"important responsibility" and play a "dominant role" in addressing the issue.
He also called on enterprises to strictly abide by
environmental protection laws and regulations.
China has set a goal to slash its energy consumption
per unit of domestic gross product by 20 percent and the discharges of sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 10 percent between 2006 and
2010.
However, the country only lowered its energy
consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 1.2 percent last year, well
short of its four percent target.
BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) -- China's environmental
departments and polluters will have to publicize information regarding
environmental degradation and pollution, according to a draft measure issued by
the country's environment watchdog on Wednesday.
"Environmental departments at all levels are required to
make public 17 categories of environmental information including laws,
regulations, policies and standards regarding environmental protection," said
the draft issued by the State Environmental Protection Administration
(SEPA). Full story
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