Central Asia Environmental Policy Dialogue and Launching Meeting for POPs Management Partnership, co-hosted by SEPA and ADB, was held in Beijing on Oct. 31. SEPA Vice Minister Li Ganjie attended and addressed the meeting. He expressed his wish for enhanced cooperation between China and central Asian countries and vowed to advance regional sustainable development by bringing together intellectuals and mutual help.

Li Ganjie welcomed all representatives on behalf of SEPA. He added that with rapid economic development in recent years Central Asia experienced population explosion and such outstanding environmental problems as ecological degradation, accelerated desertification, loss of biodiversity and industrial pollution. How to protect our planet that our life depends on and achieve sustained, rapid and harmonious development are major challenges the region is now facing. Therefore, we established this new platform of Central Asia Environmental Policy Dialogue to further concentrate intellectuals, seek complementary advantages and create a new situation of regional environmental cooperation.

Li Ganjie said as a responsible developing country, China has made positive progress in the cause of environmental protection while growing its economy rapidly. The Chinese government has put environmental protection as its basic national policy, actively implemented sustainable development strategy, established the important goal of improving environment and promoting harmony between man and nature for the efforts of building a well-off society in all respects, proposed major strategic thought of acquiring and applying the Scientific Outlook on Development and building a socialist harmonious society, accelerated the pace of building a resource efficient and environmentally friendly society. 

Li Ganjie said the just closed 17th Congress of the CPC put environmental protection in a more important strategic position, requiring the society to adopt the idea of conservation culture and basically form environmentally friendly industrial structure and mode of development and consumption. We must follow the culturally advanced path to development where efforts are made to develop production, create comfortable life and protect the environment, ensuring the people will live and work in a sound environment and sustainable development of the economy and society. In the meanwhile, we must regard environmental protection as an essential connotation of the path to peaceful development. We wish to joint hands with other countries in the world to facilitate mutual help and cooperation in environmental protection and safeguard our home garden that we human beings depend on for existence. All these measures fully demonstrate the resolve of Chinese government to strengthen environmental protection and promote sustainable development. This year has seen positive results in the work of energy conservation and emission reduction. In the first half of this year emissions of SO₂ showed the trend of decline for the first time and the increase of total COD dropped dramatically. As various policies and measure are putting in place, total discharges of both major pollutants are expected to reduce this year.

While addressing the meeting, Li Ganjie put forward some suggestions for regional environmental cooperation in Central Asia: first, exchanges of policies and experience in environmental protection should be conducted under the framework of sustainable development with a view to learning from each other and enhancing environmental management capabilities; second, we should seek common ground and set aside differences and promote substantial cooperation through project implementation; third, we should promote the development of traditional friendship through environmental exchanges and cooperation and achieve harmonious development of the region. Finally Minister Li noted that the Central Asia Environmental Policy Dialogue marked the first step to promote dialogue and exchanges in environmental policy among countries in Central Asia and between the region and international organizations. Our joint efforts will surely shape up a bright future for environmental cooperation in Central Asia.

Over 40 representatives attended the meeting including officials from SEPA, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local EPBs and environmental officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, participants from ADB, UNEP, UNIDO, FAO, Finland Embassy to China and related research institutes.