The National Tenth Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection
(Abstract)

Approved by the State Council on 26 December 2001 and distributed by State Environmental Protection Administration, State Development and Planning Commission, State Economic and Trade Commission and Ministry of Finance

State Environmental Protection Administration
January 2002

The State Council approved the National Tenth Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection on 26 December 2001, requesting the loca1governments and the various departments to strengthen environmental protection in close relation with the economic restructuring; raise funds for environmental protection through multi-channel in connection with the expansion of the domestic demands, and establish the mechanism of environmental protection with the government playing the dominant role, the market promotion and the public participation.

The State Council emphasizes that the local governments should undertake the major responsibilities of environmental protection. The people's governments at various levels should integrate the tasks of the Plan into the target responsibility system for provincial governors, mayors and county heads; periodic examination should be carried out on the targets of total pollutant discharge control and environmental quality. The implementation of the Plan should be inspected and summarized every year.

The State Council requests that the relevant departments should strengthen the guidance and support to the implementation of the Plan according to the respective responsibilities. The State Environmental Protection Administration should conduct coordinated supervision and management and enhance supervision and inspection on the implementation of the Plan.

I. Environmental Situation                                                                     ( See Full text in Chinese)

With unremitting efforts for many years, the environment in the entire country is transiting from the overall deterioration of the environment, and improvement in certain areas towards the situation with preliminary control of the deterioration of the pollution and certain improvement in some cities and areas. However, the environmental pollution remains rather serious, with large amount of pollutant discharge in the entire country, serious the pollution and deteriorating environmental quality. The ecological deterioration is not under effective control and the ecological damages in some areas are being aggravated. The environmental pollution and the ecological damages in some areas have become a key element with harms on the public health and restrictions on the economic development and social stabilization.
                                                                                

II. Guiding Principles and Targets                                                      ( See Full text in Chinese)

China is at the preliminary stage of socialism, with weak comprehensive national strength. In face of the severe environmental situation, we should stick to the basic state policy of environmental protection, focus on economic development, and implement the principles of emphasizing both pollution prevention and ecological conservation in accordance with the strategic economic restructuring. We should conduct comprehensive planning, suit measuring to the local conditions, focus on key issues, identify prevention as the major measures, devote priority efforts to the prevention, and formulate practical targets for various stages so as to improve the ecology, treat the pollution and realize sustainable development. 

1. Guiding Principle

We will regard the important thoughts of the Three-Representations of President Jiang Zemin as the guiding principle of the Plan, the sustainable development as the theme, the control of the total pollutant discharge as the main stream, the prevention of the pollution in the key regions of Three Rivers, Three Lakes, Two Zones, One City and One Sea and the containment of the artificial ecological damages as the key work, the enhancement of the enforcement supervision and the improvement of the environmental management ability as the guarantee, the improvement of the environmental quality and the protection of the public health as the fundamental work. The governmental regulating and the market mechanism should be consolidated. By the means of institutional and policy innovation, we will establish a new mechanism of environmental protection, with governmental domination, the market promotion and public participation.

2. Overall Objectives

By 2005, the environmental pollution will be reduced; the eco--environmental deterioration will be contained preliminarily; the urban and rural environmental quality, especially the environmental quality in large and medium cities and the key areas will be improved; and the environmental laws, policies and management systems suited to the socialist market economic system will be further improved.

3. Main Indices of the Plan

A. Indices of Total Discharge Control of the Key Pollutants

B. Indices of Urban Environmental Protection

----The air quality in over 50% of the cities above prefecture level will attain the Second Grade of the national standards;
----The surface water quality in over 60% of the cities above prefecture level will attain the standards based on the functioning zones;
----The ambient noises of road traffic in over 50% of the cities above prefecture leve1and regions will attain the national standards;
----The centralized treatment rate of the urban domestic sewage will reach 45%;
----The rate of gas use in urban households shall reach 92%;
----The incremental capacity of the sanitary treatment of urban garbage will reach150000 tons/day;
----The green established urban areas will reach 35%.

C. Indices of Eco-Environmental Conservation

----The nature reserves will account for over13% of the land territory areas, and the marine nature reserves will hit 40000 km2;
----The natural, mature and over-mature forests will remain stable and the quality will remain stable with certain improvement;
----The growth of the new soil-erosion area, Three-Trends grassland areas and the desertification 1and areas will decrease by 60% compared with that in 2000;
----The ecological rehabilitation of the mining areas will be over 25%.

D. Indices of Rural Environmental Protection

----The water qua1ity in the centralized drinking water sources will basically attain the environmental quality standards;
----The rate of limiting the stalk burning in the stalk burning forbidding zones will reach 95% and the comprehensive utilization rate of the stalk in the entire country will reach 80%;
----The attainment rate of the sewage discharge of the large-scaled animal-poultry farms will reach 60%, with 70% of the feces turned into resources;
----The agriculture irrigation water will basically attain the standards for agriculture irrigation water quality standards and the quality and safety of the agriculture products will be improved on full scale.

4.Indices of Environmental Protection in Key Areas 

The pollution prevention of the Three Rivers (Huai River, Hai River and Liao River), Three Lakes (Tai Lake, Chao Lake and Dian Lake), Two-Zones (acid rain control zone and S02 control zone), One City (Beijing) and One Sea (Bo Sea) will be further promoted. Efforts will be devoted to the water pollution treatment in Three-Gorges Reservoir zone and along the Water Diversion Engineering route. The comprehensive water pollution treatment at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the Songhua River Basin will be kicked off.

III. Main Tasks                                                                                        ( See Full text in Chinese)

1. Industrial Pollution Prevention

The theme of the industrial pollution prevention is to reduce the total industrial pollutant discharge. The industrial pollutant discharge should attain the standards on full scale and the industria1restructuring and renovation should be promoted. The new pollution should be under strict control so as not to increase the pollution while increasing the production. The backward production capacity with serious pollution should be phased out and efforts should be devoted to the cleaner production.

We should focus on pollution prevention in the sectors such as coal, power, metallurgical industry, non--ferrous metal, petroleum and chemical industry, building-materials and light industry.

2.Urban Environmental Protection 

The core of urban environmental protection is to create excellent human habitat environment. The urban water pollution, air pollution, garbage pollution and noise pollution will be treated in a comprehensive way. A batch of model cities of environmental protection will be established.

3.Rural Environmental Protection

The non-point source agriculture pollution and the rural household pollution will be controlled. The rural drinking water sources should be under protection. Great efforts will be devoted to developing ecological agriculture, organic agriculture and water saving agriculture. The safety of the agriculture products should be ensured. The burning of the crop stalks wil1be forbidden and the comprehensive utilization of crop stalks will be promoted.

The environmental protection in small towns should be strengthened. The construction of the environmental infrastructure facilities should be promoted in small towns. Activities of building small towns with beautiful environment will be carried out.

4. Marine Environmental Protection

The Action Plan of Turning Bo Sea clean will be carried out and efforts will be devoted to the comprehensive treatment and management of the environment in Bo Sea. The land-based pollution and marine aquaculture pollution will be treated in an active way. Key efforts will devote to the protection of coral reefs, mangrove forests and the major marine biological resources.

5. Ecological Environmental Conservation

The Outline of National Ecological Environmental Conservation will be implemented, with the western region as the focus. Fifteen national level ecological function reserves and forty provincial level ecological function reserves will be set up. The eco-sphere surrounding Beijing and Tianjin will be set up. The ecological water shall be identified in a scientific way and the guarantee system of the basic flow should be established. The environmental protection of the territory and the mineral resource development should be strengthened and the environmental protection of the tourism should be enhanced. The establishment and management of nature reserves and ecological demonstration zones should be improved. The bio-diversity conservation and bio-safety management should be enhanced. 

The environmental supervision of the important engineering projects should be enhanced, such as the projects of transiting the natural gas and power from the west to the east, water diversion, Three-Gorges Reservoir and the Qinghai-Tibetan Railway.

6. The Environmental Supervision and Management of Nuclear Safety and Radiation

The nuclear environmental safety management should be strengthened and the supervision of the nuclear facility operation should be carried out in a strict way. The electro-magnetic radiation pollution in cities should be under control.

IV. Guarantee Measures for the Plan                                                ( See Full text in Chinese)

1. To establish comprehensive decision-making mechanism and promote the coordinated development of environment and economy;

2. To improve the system of environmental laws and regu1ations and conduct environmental protection according to the laws;

3. To consolidate the governmental regulation with the market mechanism and increase the input of environmental protection;

4. To adopt incentive policy measures and create sound conditions for environmental protection;

5. To enhance the capacity building environmental management and establish modern environmental management;

6. To enhance the researches of environmental sciences and technologies and promote environmental protection by depending on science and technology;

7. To regulate the environmental industry market and promote the development of environmental industries;

8. To strengthen environmental education and publicity and promote the environmental awareness of the public;

9. To participate in the global environmental protection in an active way and conduct international environmental cooperation on wide scale;

10. To carry out the responsibility system of environmental protection and guarantee the implementation effects of the Plan.

V. Investment of Environmental Protection and Key Engineering Projects 

                                                                                                                    ( See Full text in Chinese)

Efforts should be devoted to the policy promotion and mechanism creation. With the guidance of the government, the promotion of the market and public participation, key projects will be implemented so as to promote the treatment of environmental pollution and ecological conservation on full scale.

1. Demand of Investment of Environmental Protection Distribution of Environmental Protection Investment in Tenth Five-Year Plan Period

During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the total demand of the investment of environmental protection in the entire country will hit 700 billion Yuan, accounting for about 1.3% of the GDP at the same period and about 3.6% of the total fixed investment of the entire society.

Distribution of Environmental Protection Investment in Tenth Five-Year Plan Period

2. Program of key Engineering Projects

There are 1137 projects in the National Tenth Five-Year Program of the Key Engineering Project of Environmental Protection (China Green Project Plan-Phase II) and the investment demand is about 262 billion Yuan.