Doing Business in China

China has launched an economic stimulus package worth nearly $600 billion, which includes more government investment in infrastructure last year.The stimulus plan now meets some environmental challenges.Many local governments started their new construction projects without environmental approvals.

According Xinhua news,June 11,China central government on Thursday suspended approval to several new sonstruction projects which failed to pass the environmental impact assessments,including the country's two major energy providers and steel works.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection halted two construction applications of China Huaneng group and China Huadian Corporation.The energy-intensive and polluting projects include the two energy giants' hydropower stations over the Jinshajiang River, upstream part of Yangtze River, which had been started without environmental approvals.

The environment watchdog also suspended all construction applications from steel companies in the east Shandong Province since Rizhao Steel Holding Group and Weifang Iron and Steel Group started their projects which violate the government's steel policy without the ministry's approvals as well.

The ministry's spokesman Tao Detian told Xinhua on Thursday that the hydropower stations constructed by Huaneng and Huadian intercepted the river water without approval on the basis of the environmental assessments, which could bring serious influences to ecosystems and people's livings downstream.

According to the ministry, it had suspended or rejected 29 applications of new construction in petrochemical, steel-making and electricity-generating industries with a total investment of 146.7 billion yuan (about 21.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Chinese government has promised that its economic stimulus plan would not compromise anti-pollution efforts and policies would not be loosened to allow more projects to pass environmental examinations.