GUIYANG/BEIJING, China ― At the epicenter of breakneck growth in southwestern China, Guizhou province is ramping up efforts to tackle pollution that poses an increasing threat to the region’s public health, foreign investment and tourism.

Fortified with ample cultural and natural heritage, the provincial government is seeking to turn one of the country’s least developed regions into an industrial and tourism hub.

One year ago it unveiled plans to pump 100 million yuan ($16.4 million) into each of 10 key cities for industrial and infrastructure development, curb the portion of its rural population living in poverty to below 5 million, and create what former Chinese President Hu Jintao called moderately prosperous society, all by 2016.

But mounting challenges of air, water and soil pollution have added a twist to the ambitious goal: keep growing, while minimizing environmental harm.

The newly defined mission has in recent years prompted officials to tighten environmental regulations, set up China’s first ecological protection court, and boost measures to protect nature sanctuaries and endangered species.

“We’re focusing on transforming the economic structure and improving the people’s livelihoods. In pursuing growth, we’re calling for quality, not just speed,” said Xiang Hongxiang, assistant mayor of Guiyang, the province’s capital, and director of the city’s Ecological Civilization Construction Commission.

“We want to build an industrial structure with a distinct feature of Guizhou ― one in which urban-rural coexistence is possible, one in which people get rich while boasting beautiful natural landscapes.”

Foul air

As in other major Chinese cities recently, smog has emerged as a critical problem in Guizhou, which has a skyrocketing number of factories, cars and high-rise buildings.

The primary source of concern is its PM 2.5, airborne particulate matter that measures 2.5 microns or less in diameter. The fine particles can directly enter the bronchial tubes, disrupt gas exchange in the lungs and cause a range of serious health problems.

Reports of PM 2.5 levels, monitored and disclosed by the U.S. Embassy and other consulates across China, fueled a public furor over air pollution this year.

On a regular weekday, a reading in Guiyang reached 168 micrograms per cubic meter, more than six times the World Health Organization’s safety threshold of 25. The Chinese government’s guideline is set at 75.

Yet the level was, according to local officials, not too bad compared with that of Beijing, for instance, which neared 230 at the same time.

“PM 2.5 readings vary by the receptor’s location and the time of day but the number is certainly not something we should be happy with,” said Chen Cheng, an official at the Guizhou Environment Protection Bureau.

“We’re also tracking monthly and yearly averages but the levels here are moderate in comparison with other regions, though it means there is a still lot of pollution in the air.”

Countermeasures

To address growing concerns, Chen said Guizhou is focusing on four areas: reforestation; improvement of water resources and prevention of desertification; protection of ecological sanctuaries; and prevention of pollution that may result from economic development.

The provincial government enacted environmental law in 1989 and opened the country’s first court specialized in environmental litigation in 2007. China now has 140 such institutions nationwide.

The Ecological Protection Court deals with 110-120 civil and criminal cases a year. It is working to drum up public participation and cooperate with their foreign counterparts, said Luo Guangqian, its president.

“We’ve toughened the environmental law since it was first put in place to intensively protect Guizhou’s vulnerable environment,” Luo told visiting Korean reporters.

On a nationwide scale, the Chinese government in September unveiled comprehensive measures to cope with air pollution.

They include plans to cut the use of coal and other fossil fuels, scrap polluting factories and vehicles, stem the number of new cars on the roads, and raise its fuel quality standards.

Beijing aims to slash carbon dioxide emissions by 40 to 45 percent per unit of gross domestic product from 2005 levels by 2020. It has also been trying to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and other airborne pollutants blamed for much of the country’s foul air.

The country vowed to trim total consumption of fossil fuels to below 65 percent of primary energy use by 2017, down from nearly 70 percent last year.

It is looking to boost the share of non-fossil fuel energy to 13 percent by 2017 and then 15 percent by 2020, versus 11.4 percent in 2012.

Coal supplies more than three-quarters of the total electricity needs of the world’s second-largest economy.

“The central government is stressing the significance of pollution control in terms of water, air and other fields as we are still a developing country using a substantial amount of fossil fuels and have a relatively lower standard for fuel quality,” said Bao Xiaofeng, vice chief engineer and principal scientist at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences’ mobile sources pollution control division.

“But we believe in five years, our efforts will lead to a better quality of the environment and a decrease in the number of days where you see smog,” he said in an interview in Beijing.

Also for businesses, such measures could offer a fresh opportunity to gain an edge in the market at home and abroad, Bao said.

“Automakers, for instance, can help expand the market and boost their competitiveness by upgrading fuel quality and securing sophisticated technologies, which meanwhile would give them more profits and lessen pollution,” he added.

Other officials and scholars also dismiss concerns that the tighter environmental policy and regulations would dampen corporate sentiment and shy away overseas investors.

“Such controls are understandable given the current environment and traffic conditions in particular in major cities,” said He Kebin, dean and professor of the School of Environment at Tsinghua University.

“The policies, which are temporary, may change if the situation improves. For now, environment protection is a top priority.”

With their geographical proximity, Korea and China are also seeking to reinforce cooperation on climate change to and share each other’s experience of environmental protection.

Deng Longjiang, vice secretary-general of Guiyang, expressed hopes for greater partnership with Korean municipalities and firms, praising Seoul’s drive for green growth.

“I hope that we will work more together with Korea on green growth and its companies will invest, reap benefits and contribute to our industrial transition,” Deng said.

“After all, we all share one nature.” 

By Shin Hyon-hee, Korea Herald correspondent

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)