China Says Environment Losing Out to Development

China must integrate environmental conservation into its development plans, officials said on Tuesday, as the environment ministry said pollution across the country was getting worse.

“We should firmly forbid those projects which damage the environment or cause pollution in the construction process,” said Wang Xiaoqing, a vice minister at China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).
“Biodiversity should be regarded as a key performance indicator,” he said at the signing ceremony for the grants.

China has been struggling to change its priorities from growth at all costs to more sustainable development, driven in part by worries that environmental degradation could compromise the economic rise on which the ruling Communist Party has staked its legitimacy.

But central government efforts have been stymied by a culture of breakneck growth and by local officials who stand to gain from investments in industry in their regions.

SEPA, the environment ministry, said despite efforts to alter priorities, the situation was not improving.

Planet Ark