From Chinese Press

Chinese cities adopt low-carbon policies

(People's Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-09 09:43

As the low-carbon campaign is carried out in full swing across the country, the one-and-half-day long forum featuring environment changes and city responsibilities, an activity of Shanghai Expo, concluded in Nanjing on July 4.

In the face of industrialization and fast urbanization, Chinese cities are now working on cost-effective ways to protect the environment in a sustainable way based on previous experiences and national conditions while gaining more benefit and producing less emissions.

Green policies promote green recovery

On May 5, urban-rural Turpan model zone, the national new-energy model city, broke the ground. Turpan plans to change 8.8 square kilometers of barren land into a new green oasis in 10 years. The new Turpan zone will strive to adopt a low-carbon policy to build every plot of the land from urban planning, industrial presence, to architecture and design as well as energy use.

For example, electricity will be generated by PV power, heating and cooling will be provided through ground source heat pumps, and the architecture will adopt natural ventilation and natural light.

In the developed coastal areas of eastern China, the low-carbon campaign is represented more in building a livable environment inside the cities. According to the results of "Building a Monitoring and Index System for China's Livable Cities" project by Asian Development Bank, Chinese cities have maintained good growth momentum in the livability index in recent years. Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai and Lanzhou saw a growth of over 15 percent from 2000 to 2007. Among these cities, Guangzhou reported a growth margin of more than 45 percent.

China's green policies effectively stimulated growth, and realized green recovery on a more extensive scope nationwide. Addressing climate change and developing a low carbon economy have been included into the national economic and social development plan. On September 22, 2009, Hu Jintao, President of People's Republic of China, promised at the United Nations Climate Change Summit that China will continue to adopt effective measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 2020.

Zhou Shengxian, Minister of Environmental Protection, said China sets environmental protection as the basic national policy and takes sustainable development as a national strategy so that environmental protection can be transformed.