Zhou Jian, Vice Minister of SEPA met with Jeffrey Sachs, the visiting Special Advisor to UN Secretary General at SEPA on May 18. Both sides thoroughly exchanged views on water resources management, water pollution control, climate change, and cleaner energy.

Mr. Zhou said that in the rapid socio-economic development process, China has faced problems like shortage of water resources and energy as well as climate change. Therefore, the government arranged environmental protection work by taking pollution control as the first priority and identifying the top task to ensure drinking water safety.

Mr. Zhou said that with the economic growth, China suffered from increasing per capita energy consumption and pollutant emissions, and the ensuing energy and environmental problems imposed heavy pressures on the country. Meanwhile, he said, the correct understanding of a country's environmental problems should be based on the full considerations of its national conditions and development stage, and the solution of its environmental problems should be based on specific economic growth level and technological level, while respecting the basic rights of development of citizens in all nations. As a responsible developing country, China would not only fulfill its commitment to global environmental issues, but also pay attention to solving the balanced development of economy, society and the environment.

Mr. Zhou stressed that as the country experiences rather sharp and complicated environmental problems, China should urgently shift the economic growth pattern, readjust the industrial mix, speed up the study on and introduction of related technologies, constantly improve pricing, financial, fiscal, taxation, trade policies and other supporting measures, and explore more rapidly the new environmental mechanisms like ecological compensation, and emissions trading. He expected the United Nations to fully play the role of a coordinator, promote more effective cooperation across countries, regions and sectors in the environment field, and constantly increase the technology and personnel exchanges to discuss environmental policies.

Mr. Sachs appraised SEPA for its due attention to international environmental cooperation, and said he would actively help China to extend international communications on cleaner energy, water resources management, and climate change and to cooperate further on talents and technologies, so as to promote the development of world environment cause.