China Says to Target Overheating, Polluters
Date: 26-Jul-07
Country: CHINA
The National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planning agency, said on Wednesday that preventing overheating would be the No. 1 priority for economic policy.
"We will continue to stabilise, improve and implement macroeconomic control policies and use economic and legal measures ... to promote stable, good and rapid economic growth," the agency said in a statement distributed at a news conference.
It also said that during the rest of 2007 it would "unswervingly" curb blind expansion in industries that consume large amounts of energy, pollute a lot and face overcapacity. Exports from those industries would also be targeted.
Officials have said that they are generally sanguine about economic growth, which accelerated to an 11- year high annual pace of 11.9 percent in the second quarter. But they have repeatedly said China's economy must become less wasteful.
For one, the planning agency said it would cancel preferential treatment for such industries in the areas of power tariffs, land prices and administrative charges.
It would also raise market entry standards in those sectors and investigate and punish projects with irregularities.
The planner said it would accelerate consolidation in the power, steel and construction materials sectors. It reaffirmed its commitment to promoting resource and environmental price reform but did not say what it would do.
China currently caps fines for polluters, reducing the incentive to comply with emissions and wastewater regulations.
It also controls prices for water, electricity and fuel at levels below international market rates, reducing incentives to operate more efficiently.
