China and Italy have agreed to work together in the field of
environmental protection to help China achieve its goal of
sustainable development.
A
series of joint programs aims to improve China's capacity for
sustainable agriculture, phase out the use of hazardous chemicals,
and make ecological surveys and air quality monitoring, according
to a ceremony in Beijing Monday to launch the initiative.
China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and
the Ministry of the Environment and Territory of Italy have set up
a joint management office in Beijing to oversee the setting up of
the programs through pilot projects, technical assistance and
investment.
Investments totaling some US$32 million would mainly come from the
Italian and Chinese governments, said Liu Yi, an SEPA official in
charge of foreign economic cooperation.
Sino-Italian cooperation in China's sustainable agriculture sector
will focus on reducing and replacing pesticides and chemical
fertilizers, and introducing water-conserving irrigation
systems.
Through the initiative, China will obtain new alternative
technologies to methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting substance
traditionally used in soil fumigation and disinfecting.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
has required the phasing out of methyl bromide in agricultural
production.
Under another program, Chinese and Italian researchers will make a
two-year study on reducing the use of and phasing out the worst
polluting organic pesticides.
Other programs include an environmental survey of central China,an
air quality monitoring system in Suzhou city, trial use of a clean
diesel fuel in Shanghai buses, and the promotion of renewable
energy.
Zhu Guangyao, SEPA deputy director, said Sino-Italian cooperation
had become one of China's most active areas of international
initiatives with the most positive results in environmental
protection in the last two years.
The cooperation had won strong support both from the two countries'
governments and international organizations such as the United
Nations Development Program and the World Bank for its benefits to
both national and global sustainable development, Liu Yi said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2002)