Zhou Jian, Vice Minister of SEPA met with Mrs. Preuss, the visiting Vice President of Asian Development Bank (hereinafter referred to as ADB) on June 4. Both sides exchanged views on the cooperation between SEPA and ADB and discussed possible areas of cooperation.

First of all, Mr. Zhou appreciated ADB for its concerns with the country's environmental protection cause for years. Since the early 1990s, ADB has greatly contributed to the country's sustainable development and played an active role in promoting regional green efforts, pollution treatment and improvement of the environment quality.

Mr. Zhou announced that SEPA would focus on three topics for the work in the near future. First of all, SEPA would spend three years in nationwide survey of pollutant sources; second, the administration would develop strategies to combat water pollution; third, it would launch the project on study of China's macro environmental strategies. The project, which was cooperated between SEPA and Chinese Academy of Engineering, would, on the basis of the experience and lessons learned from green efforts, analyze the environmental situation and trends of development in the future and work out the strategic goals, legal, institutional and economic policies and other strategic guarantees for the first two stages by 2020 and 2050 respectively. SEPA had discussed in details with ADB on the project and expected to start cooperation as early as possible.

Mr. Zhou said that China is experiencing rapid economic surge and facing serious environmental pollution. The environmental problems of both the country and the world should also become the concerns of other countries. The period from now to 2020 is key to China's sustainable development, but we should also be aware of the compelling problems. How to balance social, economic and environmental development in the following period and what approaches should be taken in this regard is the main challenge before us for the moment. The ongoing study on China's macro environmental strategies provides an opportunity for ADB to experience the country's way to make strategic plans for environmental protection. The settlement of China's environmental problems is the foundation to solve the world ones. We are ready to substantially promote the development of Asia-Pacific region and of the global energy by learning from the bank's advanced concepts and approaches, and expect to continue bilateral cooperation.

Ms. Preuss said that her bank is willing to cooperate with SEPA on possible projects, and meanwhile, environmental protection is one of the integral parts of the bank's Country Strategy and Program. The bank would continue to pay attention to the country's environmental protection cause in the future, and hoped to further involve in its environmental protection work and intensify the cooperation on exploitation of cleaner energy, energy efficiency and urbanization.