A draft of mandatory environmental measures has been completed for the growing number of Chinese companies that invested in overseas projects, China Daily reported Friday.

The guidelines, completed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Ministry of Commerce, are awaiting approval, Ge Chazong, a researcher with the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning (CAEP), quoted as saying Thursday.

The regulations might become effective in a couple of months and would cover all Chinese companies with businesses abroad, Ge said.

China's outbound investors would be asked to review any environmental impact their projects might have before they are started, and their projects will have to include environmental protection measures such as sewage and waste treatment facilities.

Chinese companies would be required to follow international environmental treaties China has signed as well as the green regulations in other countries.

If the projects cause any damage to the ecology, they would have to provide compensation, said Zhi Yingbiao, a program officer from the Global Environmental Institution (GEI), a non-governmental organization and co-designer of the guidelines with the CAEP.

Under the country's latest draft guidelines, banks would be required to take into account environmental and social issues when financing projects overseas, according to the CAEP and GEI.

China's investment is reportedly increasing in mining, crude oil production, manufacturing, and infrastructure development in Southeast Asian, African and Latin American countries, where the ecological conditions are already fragile, the newspaper said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2009)