China Honors 21 Enterprises for Environment Protection

China honors 21 enterprises for environment protection

BEIJING, Oct, 20 (Xinhua) — China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) on Thursday awarded the title of National Environment-friendly Enterprise to 21 enterprises around the country for their outstanding efforts in protecting the environment.

To date, 32 enterprises in China have been given the title, including eight in 2004 and three early this year.

The newly honored enterprises are located in eight provinces and involve such businesses as power generation, brewing or distillation, electronics, cement, paper-making and chemical production.

“These enterprises have done highly effective work in clean production, pollution treatment, and energy and resources saving,” said Li Xinmin, deputy director of the SEPA’s Pollution Control Department.

He cited Beijing Thermoelectricity Branch of China Power Guo Hua Electric Power Co. Ltd as an example, saying the desulfurization rate of coal power plants have reached 95 percent with the adoption of its advanced technology.

However, he noted, the figure of 32 is too small a number compared with more than 300,000 enterprises nationwide, hoping that more industrial businesses will adopt clean production to help reverse environmental degradation in the country.

The Chinese economy has been on a fast track over the past two decades, but its environment has become worse due to heavy pollution and waste..

Since early this year, the Chinese government has been advocating the building of a resources-saving and environment-friendly society.

“The honoring of environment-friendly enterprises constitutes part of the effort to build that kind of society,” Li said.

The deputy director voiced the hope that relative government departments will grant preferential policies, such as tax reduction, to encourage environment-friendly enterprises.