Chapter 3
Actions and Achievements in the Major Fields of Sustainable Development
Section 5 Industry
I. BackgroundII. Actions and Achievements3.26 China is at the primary stage of industrialisation. The current industrial growth pattern is dependent on the "extensive" expansion of production. The consumption of resources and energy is huge and environmental pollution is serious. Therefore, it is essential for China, in its realisation of sustainable industrial development, to change its industrial development pattern from the "extensive" model to the "intensive", thus reducing resource and energy consumption, and preventing industrial pollution.
3.27 Transformation of the industrial growth pattern by optimising the industrial structure
In recent years, China has taken measures for macro-control and pollution prevention in the process of promoting the transformation in the industrial growth pattern, such as optimising industrial structure, establishing a suitable production scale, and accelerating the adjustment of enterprises' management structure. This transformation will establish a resources-saving and science- and technology-oriented industrial system which can be characterised as low input, high output, high quality, and low consumption. Some major measures are:
to emphasise the development of the foundation industries of energy and resources. This has eased the conflict between the foundation industries and the processing industries to a certain degree and increased the total economic results;
to compulsorily phase out, in association with technical innovation, those products which are highly energy-intensive, inefficient at utilising resources, and significant pollution producers; and
to expand enterprises' production scale, set up enterprise groups, and utilise economies of scale. In 1996, the number of pilot groups of nationally-organised large enterprises were increased from 57 to 100. Meanwhile, the number of pilot cities, where experiments on the optimisation of capital were carried out, expanded from 18 to 111.
3.28 Setting deadlines for enterprises to comply with the state standards and strengthening the industrial pollution control and treatment
In August of 1996, the State Council put forward the "Decision on Environmental Protection" in which the control deadline was set for enterprises that emitted pollutants in excess of the national standards. The decision ordered those enterprises which were unable to meet this deadline to be closed or switched to other processes. Also, the decision was made for the closure or shifted production of 15 types of small-sized enterprises. By the end of 1996, 60,700 plants from the 15 types of small-sized enterprises had been closed or shifted production. This was 86% of the enterprises which should have been closed. This decision was warmly received by the public.
3.29 Conversion of the industrial pollution control strategy and promotion of cleaner production
China has established the "Three Pollution Control Changes" strategy as its guiding principle for industrial pollution control:
for basic pollution control: to change from emphasising end-of-pipe control of the pollution to the control of the whole production process;
for the control of pollutant discharge: to change from emphasising the control of the density to focusing on the combination control of the density and the total amount of pollutants;
for pollution control models: to change from spot control to the combination of central control and spot control.
The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the promotion of cleaner production in industrial enterprises. Since 1993, the country has conducted cleaner production experiments in 29 enterprises. The various local governments have also carried out experiments in some enterprises. After two years of preparation, the Sino-Canadian Cooperation Programme "China's Cleaner Production Policies and Management ", which was listed in the Priority Programme for China's Agenda 21, has commenced. This project will significantly affect China's promotion of cleaner production technologies. Meanwhile, a large number of demonstration projects have been selected to disseminate cleaner production technologies in China.
By completing the technical aid project of the World Bank, a large number of enterprise production audit personnel and cleaner production trainers have been trained. Through application of cleaner production techniques, the petroleum chemical industry of the country has reduced carbon dioxide emission by 5 million tons and resulted in RMB 1.47 billion yuan of economic benefits.
Picture 3-9 The Largest De-Phenol Biological Treatment System of Anshan Iron & Steel Company
The Beijing Brewery Company is located in the
east suburb industrial area of Beijing. It has an area of 160,000 square
metres, 1,500 employees, and a yearly output of about 100,000 tons. Therefore,
it is both a large consumer of water and a significant discharge of wastewater.
In 1993 this company became the experimental enterprise for cleaner production
under a technical aid programme of the World Bank. Its emphasis was the
reduction of COD in the production process so as to cut down the investment
in the last-link disposal and liquid waste treatment. In this way, the
investment and cost of enlarging the factory (to deal with disposal of
the wastewater) was saved. Cleaner production was carried out in 19 aspects
such as adjustment of product structure, control of input materials, strengthening
of internal management, and technology reform. With an investment of RMB
3.428 million yuan, COD emissions have been reduced by 521.5 tons per year
and RMB 7.96 million yuan economic benefit has been gained. It has achieved
obvious economic, social, and environmental benefits. |
3.30 Acceleration of technological progress, enhancement of industrial pollution control, and increased safety in the production process
- Implementation of the "Technical and Financial Enhancement"
Programme
In 1994, the "Technical and Financial Enhancement" Programme began. The aim of this programme is to enhance technical reform investment, accelerate enterprise reform, and set up technical progress mechanisms. In two separate steps more than 3000 projects within the "Technical and Financial Enhancement" Programme have been arranged, the total investment being RMB 290 billion yuan. Energy conservation and reduction, comprehensive utilisation of resources, and environmental protection are three of the key priority areas within this programme. There are over 232 projects in the above areas and the total input is RMB 30 billion yuan. Jilin Chemical Industry Co. was founded in the 1950s and is thus an old enterprise. In the past years, the company has completely solved the pollution problem of various chemical elements by depending on scientific and technological progress and carrying out technical reforms in those production processes that consume large amounts of resources and discharge large volumes of wastes.
- Enhancement of industrial pollution control in cities
Along with comprehensive environmental control and construction of cities, a large number of enterprises with serious pollution problems have been closed, moved or controlled. This has eased the pollution situation in some regions. The Beijing Municipal Government closed the South Factory of the Capital Steel Company because of serious pollution problems and thus a major source of pollution was eliminated. Shanghai has accelerated its pollution control efforts on the Suzhou River, the upper reaches of Huangpu River, and key parts of the city. The environment of some parts of the city has been noticeably improved. From 1993 to 1996, 22,975 projects for environmental pollution control in China were completed in order to facilitate the compliance with the deadline set by the State Council. Also, in 1996 a third group of 121 projects was announced.
- Emphasis on production safety and health
The government has set up a work system according to the concept "the enterprise to be responsible, the administration to manage, the courts to control, the people to monitor, and the workers to abide by the rules". This has clearly shown that the factory managers should be responsible for safe production. The death rate per million tons in the state-owned coal mine has been reduced from 1.4 persons in 1990 to 1.2 persons in 1995. The explosion rate of boiler and other pressure containers is also decreasing steadily. Safe production is a positive emerging trend throughout the country.
3.31 Promotion of the recycling of the "Three Waste Streams" and transformation of waste resources
China attaches great importance to the comprehensive utilisation of the "Three Waste Streams" (liquid waste, waste gas, and solid waste). The government has defined an economic policy that encourages recycling of the "Three Waste Streams" and has organised enterprises to exhibit and disseminate practical technology for comprehensive utilisation. According to the statistics, in 1996:
the total value of the product which was produced from the "Three Waste Streams" was RMB 21.8 billion yuan;
the total amount of recycled industrial solid residues reached 300 million tons;
the comprehensive utilisation rate of gangue reached 39%;
the rate of coal ash utilisation reached 40%;
the average utilisation rate of flammable gas from some large- and medium-sized enterprises in metallurgy reached 88%;
the average utilisation rate of flammable gas from waste cinder in smelting was over 84%;
the reuse rate of wastewater for industry in some major cities was between 60% and 85%;
the nonferrous metal industry had the capability to reclaim more than 50 kinds of associated metal elements and its product value from comprehensive use rose to 15% of the total production value of the industry;
the production value from comprehensive resource utilisation in the textile industry has exceeded RMB 6 billion yuan;
during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period (1990-1995), the accumulated production value through utilisation of the "Three Waste Streams" was RMB 70 billion yuan with a profit of RMB 18 billion yuan;
the amount of industrial waste cinder used in comprehensive utilisation was 1.28 billion tons and its rate had been increased from 29% in 1990 to 43% in 1995; and
the total value of the reclaimed material was RMB 130 billion yuan.
3.32 Enhancement of technology innovation and development of the environmental protection industry
China considers technological innovation and technological replacement as important measures for strengthening the sustainable development capability of industry and controlling environmental pollution
- To emphasise the research and development of environmentally sound
technologies and promote the evaluation, selection, and popularisation
of the best practical technology
During the Eighth Five-Year Plan, 385 best practice techniques, which are less harmful to environment, were popularised in 140,000 units in China. This reduced the emission of the "Three Waste Streams" and achieved sound economic benefits.
- To foster the development of the environmental protection industry
The government has given priority to the development of the environmental protection industry and therefore has provided preferential policies in investment, pricing, and taxation. According to the investigation report on the national environmental protection industry issued in May of 1996, there were 8,651 units engaging in the environmental protection industry with employees of 1.88 million, fixed assets of RMB 45 billion yuan, yearly output value of RMB 31.2 billion yuan, and profits of RMB 4.1 billion yuan. Sixty three projects for environmental equipment manufacture have been financed in the second set of the "Technical and Financial Enhancement" Programme, the total input being RMB 2.3 billion yuan.
- To implement environmental label accreditation
China's work for accreditation of environmental labelling started in March of 1993. By April of 1996, 35 products of 21 enterprises in 11 categories achieved the environmental label of China. The acceptance of environmentally-labelled products into households has greatly influenced social consumption.
3.33 Improved coordination of the export and import trade for environmental protection
The policies and control indexes issued by the relevant departments of the Chinese Government prohibit the import of equipment and harmful products which are highly polluting and consume excessive amounts of energy. These departments also provide preferential policies for the introduction of technology for pollution treatment. In 1995 and 1996, the Chinese Government drafted two sets of the Index for Technology Transfer and Technology Introduction Guidance. Pollution control projects and facilities, such as the "smog de-sulferisation facility for power plants", "wastewater treatment", "equipment for re-use of waste paper", "comprehensive utilisation of alcohol liquid pomace technology and equipment", etc. were listed in the low-taxation category. For the projects using foreign funds, the government has strictly enforced the assessment system for environmental impact and prohibited the entrance of highly-polluting projects into the country. In using loans from international lending organisations, the government gives special support to energy-conserving and pollution-controlling projects.
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