The call came from Tang Xiaoyang, the China project leader of Helmut Kaiser Consultancy, a provider of analysis and strategies in life sciences, environmental protection and sustainable technologies to enterprises and government agencies worldwide.

Tang said, "Only when the environmental protection sector of a nation shake off their dependence on foreign technology can the country's environmental protection measures be brought into full play. However, at present the environmental protection-related product market and technology in China is dominated by foreign companies."

Environmental protection was a long-term problem and the import of environmental protection technology and facilities was only a temporary solution, Tang said.

"As long as the earth turns, there is the problem of environmental protection and so we should face the problem with a long-term view."

As the most populous country in the world, China was undergoing rapid economic growth. Tang said this made a parallel development of environmental protection necessary and urgent.

However, as a developing country, China inevitably had to import foreign technology and equipment, Tang said China should promote research and development and try to solve the problem of environmental protection with its own technology.

Because the environmental protection-related industry need many providers of auxiliary products, it would help boost the emergence and development of medium-sized and small enterprises, and thus bring about more jobs for Chinese people, Tang said.

According to a recent forecast by the Helmut Kaiser Consultancy, the number of Chinese companies in environmental protection could hit 6,000 in 2010 with four million more jobs. China currently has about 350 companies involving environmental protection.

Tang said a major advantage for China in developing its environmental protection-related industry was that the Chinese government attached great importance to environmental protection. The government had connected environmental protection with the country's overall economic development and improved its legal system for environmental protection. Citizens and enterprises were encouraged to use clean and renewable energies in China and tax reduction or exemption were given to enterprises which strive for environmental protection in their production.

In the 1995-2000 period, China invested over 370 billion yuan (US$45 billion) in the environmental protection sector. It is estimated the figure will surpass 700 billion yuan (US$87.5 billion) in 2001-2005 period.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2002)