From November 1, China will ban imports of scrap electronic goods such as refrigerators and television sets.

Countries like Japan and the United States have traditionally dumped goods like these in China, where they are broken down for parts and re-built.

The practice is about to stop, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs and the State Environment Protection Administration.

Attached to the notice is a list detailing the banned items, most of them old or scrap electronics.

China has been importing those kind of goods because of strong demand in the domestic market for the materials that can be recycled, such as copper, steel and aluminium.

But the Chinese Government has realized that most of the goods, when they are dumped, can have a devastating effect on the environment.

On the other hand, the trade of these goods, which requires little technological know-how and is basically low-end, account for a large part of the country's processing trade industry.

The new list could serve as an impetus for this part of trade to move up in the industry ladder.

The notice says relevant government departments will update the lists of banned items every year according to economic conditions and the nation's industry policy.

While foreign trade is a powerful engine pushing the country's vibrant economy, the government's latest action shows that it has, at least in some aspects, changed its policy of always putting economic concerns in front of less tangible needs such as the environment.

If the new regulation is correctly observed, the long-term effects should be an industry which recycles a better quality of spares and a better-protected environment.

(China Daily October 29, 2004)