It will be “extremely difficult” for China to achieve its pollution control goals, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao assessed on Monday.
"We have shown our determination, but it will be extremely difficult to achieve the goals," Wen said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "In this area, our task is harder than Germany’s," added the head of the Chinese government, highlighting his country’s efforts to close polluting factories but also the handicap posed by China’s enormous population.
The Chinese government has set a goal to reduce pollution by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010, the period of the 11th five-year plan. However, in 2006, two key indicators (sulfur dioxide emissions and biochemical oxygen demand) increased by more than one percent.
The Chinese premier also confirmed that "the Chinese threat does not exist" for the rest of the world, emphasizing the country’s peacefulness and downplaying China’s impressive economic development. With an economic growth of 11.5 percent in the first half of 2007, China could surpass Germany as the third-largest economy in the world as early as this year. (Hina)
