China to establish "green GDP" index system
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-06-26 10:19

According to an international seminar on "green GDP" calculation held in Beijing Friday by the SSB and SEPA, related departments will soon establish theoretical systems and basic frameworks to evaluate the overall environment and economy, set up indexes to calculate pollutant materials and environmental costs and spread the new index systems from experimental sites to other areas.

The growth of the Chinese economy is still of low efficiency and consumes huge resources, said SSB Director Li Deshui, noting the introduction of a "green GDP" index system has become an urgent and crucial task for sustainable development.

In the past 25 years, China has achieved an economic miracle with average GDP growth at above 8 percent every year. However, as GDP has become the main standard, or the only standard in some regions, to evaluate the government's performance, many local officials have turned a blind eye to development in other fields, including medical care, education, culture and environmental protection.

The traditional GDP index could not fully reflect the relationship between economic growth and the environment, the environment and people, said Niu Wenyuan, chief scientist on sustainable development strategy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"If the current high-cost growth and serious pollution continues, China will face a heavily-polluted environment and a serious shortage of natural resources in the near future, which would not support its future development," said Pan Yue, vice-director of the SEPA.

"We must adopt a scientific approach to the current accounting system of GDP, a comprehensive indicator of the economy," said Zeng Qinghong, Chinese vice president, at a recent seminar on the subject.

Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the only trial city designated by the SSB in 2001 for developing the "green GDP" system, has studied data collected from 1,415 local enterprises and non-profit institutions. Based on the study, an initial feasible "green" GDP accounting approach has come into being.

"Traditionally an official who expands economic growth at huge environmental cost may well be promoted to a higher position, for he is evaluated mainly by the GDP growth," said Pan Yue. The " Green GDP" is a more rational norm to evaluate local officials' performances and, in turn, China's overall economic achievements.

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