Issue 7, April 30th to May 7th, 2009

OPINION

A nuclear weapon-free world an inspiring deal (China Daily, 5/7/2009) In recent years, "a nuclear weapon-free world" has become a worldwide campaign. US President Barack Obama pledged to take steps for a nuclear weapon-free world in his speech in Prague on April 5, after the US and Russia issued a joint statement on April 1 declaring that the two countries will continue to negotiate a new nuclear weapons reduction treaty.

A mighty wind (China Environmental Law Blog, 5/6/2009) China aims to expand its wind power generating capacity to 100,000 megawatts by 2020, more than doubling the current world’s installed capacity.

Environmental humor in China (China Environmental Law Blog, 5/5/2009) We aren’t just a dry scholary rag focused solely on emissions and discharges. We can see the humor as well as the next guy in some of the things that go on in the environmental policy arena. Thus we are thrilled to share with you Chinese environmental humor (or at least an environmental cartoon) when it makes an appearance.

Reducing energy use at low cost (China Dialogue, 5/4/2009) Energy saving in buildings may be the most cost-effective and achievable strategy to address climate change. Collaboration between China and the US, writes David Hathaway, demonstrates that the best strategy is decidedly low-tech.

Editorial: China’s pollution issues (The Asahi Shimbun, 5/2/2009) China has long been known as "the factory of the world." While its economy has been growing at a breakneck pace for years, China has not been making great strides in tackling the problem of rampant pollution. The grim environmental reality in China is something Japan cannot ignore.

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

Elizabeth Economy on the Global Impact of China's Environmental Crisis (USC US-China Institute) Presentation by the Council on Foreign Relations scholar looks at the range of environmental challenges in China, governmental and non-governmental responses, and the potential for multilateral cooperation to address problems. Video of the talk is now available.

Freed snakes flood Chinese village (UPI, 5/6/2009) What appeared to be an invasion of snakes scared residents of a Chinese village as the reptiles were spotted crawling on roads and climbing trees.

Injectable testoterone may provide effective male contraception (ScienceDaily, 5/5/2009) Researchers in China may have found a method for male contraception that is effective, reversible and without serious short-term adverse effects, according to a new study.

Building safer homes before the next China quake (NPR, 5/5/2009) In the countryside of China's Sichuan province, Elizabeth Hausler is trying to spread a vital message: Earthquakes don't kill people, bad buildings do.

Tyndall Centre Climate Report: High Hopes for Low Carbon (The Green Leap Forward, 5/4/2009) A review of a study on low carbon development pathways for China by the Tyndall Centre. One of its co-authors, Dr. Wang Tao, speaks at the Beijing Energy & Environment Roundtable (BEER) tomorrow (May 5, Tuesday)

CORPORATIONS

In China, quake tourism becoming big business (NPR, 5/6/2009) “An earthquake museum will be built on the site of the destroyed Beichuan Middle School. Hundreds of children died when the school collapsed, and it is now a ghastly pile of debris and twisted rebar. It's hard to imagine that in the future, this schoolyard will become a tourist site.”

China: China cosmetic industry: Animal and alternative testing (Mondaq, 5/8/2009) Legislative changes in the EU concerning animal testing of cosmetic products have alerted the cosmetics industry in China to the need for change, because animal based testing is still the prevailing method of cosmetics testing in China, and the first related legal framework dates back to 1999.

The cheekiest green-awareness ad yet? (NewScientist, 5/6/2009) China’s Green Family Youth Association of Environmental Protection’s arresting advertising campaign - named one of the "Best, Most Smart Ass Green Ads" by Earthfirst last year - was meant to raise awareness over dumping raw sewage into rivers and streams, an all-too-common practice in the People's Republic.

Chinese honey supplier arrested for allegedly conspiring to evade restrictions on imported honey (PRNewswire, 5/6/2009) A Chinese executive of a honey manufacturer in China was arrested early today in Los Angeles on federal charges filed in Chicago for allegedly conspiring to illegally import honey that was falsely identified as coming from the Philippines to avoid U.S. anti-dumping duties.

CNOOC in 30 bln yuan coal-to-gas venture (Xinhua, 5/6/2009) China's top offshore oil and gas producer is in cooperation with a coal mine group to invest 30 billion yuan (about 4.4 billion U.S. dollars) in a coal-to-gas project in Shanxi province of central China, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

Get out of house with Chinese drywall, doctor tells family (CNN, 5/6/2009) Yorelle Haroush fled a million-dollar South Florida home this week, chased out, she said, by drywall made in China that's emitting vapors that smell like rotten eggs.

“Green” lightbulbs poison workers (Times Online, 5/6/2009) WHEN British consumers are compelled to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs from 2012, they will save up to 5m tons of carbon dioxide a year from being pumped into the atmosphere. In China, however, a heavy environmental price is being paid for the production of “green” lightbulbs in cost-cutting factories.

Healthy developing with green raw materials (Alibaba, 5/5/2009) With the rising of e-commerce, every business circle in the world has been connected. In the limited space, there are full of challenges as well as business opportunities. Since establishment of Longcom Enterprise LTD (hereinafter for shorter as Longcom) in 2002, they have engaged in becoming the leading import and export distributor of chemical products, pharmaceutical raw materials, food&feed additives and agricultural products in China.

Beijing gets power from chicken farm (Xinhua, 5/4/2009) DQY Ecological Farm, a major organic egg supplier for Beijing, has been providing the capital with electricity converted from chicken manure, Monday's China Daily reported.

Recyclable plastic bottles to be launched in China (ChinaCSR, 5/4/2009) The first batch of bottles made of recyclable plastics is expected to be launched in China soon as the material passes the review of the relevant quality departments.

Shougang Group to open steel mill in May (Reuters, 5/2/2009) China's Shougang Group will open its new steel mill on the northern Chinese coast this month that will make 4.85 million tonnes a year, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

GOVERNMENT

China increases investment on energy conservation and environmental protection (ChinaCSR, 5/7/2009) According to a representative from China's National Development and Reform Commission, China has arranged CNY23 billion for energy conservation, emission control, and environmental protection since the fourth quarter of last year, which accounts for about 10% of the total investment.

EU expects more co-op on energy efficiency with China (People’s Daily, 5/7/2009) The EU expects to expand its investment in China's growing efforts on energy efficiency and environmental protection which have paid off well so far.

World bank lends $150 mln to Chinese heritage, environment projects (Xinhua, 5/6/2009) The World Bank said Wednesday it approved loans totaling 150 million U.S. dollars to support China's efforts to protect its cultural heritage and environment.

Sichuan’s pandas find new home after quake (The Guardian, 5/6/2009) It is not the latest boutique hotel, but a new home for Sichuan's pandas. Construction began this month on new facilities, which will cost 1bn yuan (£100m), to replace the world's largest giant panda breeding centre, the Wolong nature reserve, destroyed in last May's earthquake in China.

Tibet challenged by global warming: CMA chief (Xinhua, 5/6/2009) Tibet has felt some of the largest impacts of global warming, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) chief Zheng Guoguang said here Wednesday.

China and India vie for the world’s resources, Part 1: China in Australia (Seeking Alpha, 5/6/1009) China's hunt for natural resources to feed its already substantial heavy industrial base and its growing consumer products industry is fueled by the huge reserves of capital accumulated by the Chinese state and driven by the single-minded goal of full employment for China.

Chinese county stops urging officials to smoke (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/5/2009) A rural Chinese county said Tuesday it had backed away from a rule urging its officials to smoke a certain amount of local cigarettes to boost tax income after it was reported in a newspaper.

Heilongjiang environment department refuses to expose polluters (ChinaCSR, 5/6/2009) According to Beijing Times, Heilongjiang Environment Department invited over a dozen media representatives to join its 2009 environment management conference, but it refused to reveal the information about polluters to the journalists.

China’s bans on pigs, pork imports in line with WTO rules (Xinhua, 5/5/2009) China's temporary bans on the imports of pigs and pork products from some regions hit by the A-strain influenza are in line with the rules of the World Trade Organizations (WTO), Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said here Tuesday.

China drafts plan to boost alternative-energy output (Bloomberg, 5/5/2009) China, the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, is drafting a stimulus package to more than double the nation’s 2020 output of alternative energy from targets set in 2007, an industry official said.

Tianjin is center of international wind power industry (People’s Daily, 5/5/2009) According to the Tianjin Wind Energy Association, to date, 50 enterprises engaging in the manufacture of wind power-generating equipment, key components and parts, as well as supporting services are located in Tianjin. These enterprises enabled the city to form an industry cluster primarily consisting of wind power manufacturing, which will be supported by the wind power service sector, and also components and parts manufacturing.

China to sponsor UN rice-planting program (Xinhua, 5/5/2009) CHINA will sponsor a UN program to promote its self-developed hybrid rice planting in countries facing food shortages, the United Nations Asian and Pacific Center for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery said in Beijing at a conference on food security in the Asia Pacific yesterday.

China shifts energy focus to renewables (Business Intelligence, 5/4/2009) China is battling air pollution and high costs for imported energy with an aggressive focus on renewable energy.

China bans pork imports from Alberta (AFP, 5/4/2009) China has banned hog and pork product imports from the Canadian province of Alberta after pigs from a herd there tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu virus, the Chinese government said.

Liaoning discovers 2 billion-ton iron deposit (People’s Daily, 5/4/2009) Liaoning's geological exploration department recently discovered an enormous iron deposit in the city of Benxi, with an estimated reserve of over 2 billion tons. This makes Liaoning the most iron-rich province in China.

China launches safety checks on small coal mines (Caijing, 5/4/2009) China has launched a new round of nationwide safety inspections on small coal mines that will begin in May and run for one and a half years, according to a joint notice issued April 30 by four government agencies.

China triples wind power capacity goal: report (AFP, 5/4/2009) China has more than tripled its target for wind power capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2020, likely making it the world's fastest growing market for wind energy technology, state press said.

China to shut down small oil refineries, metal smelters (Bloomberg, 5/4/2009) China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, plans to shut more small-scale oil refineries and outdated metal smelters by 2011 to boost efficiency and lower pollution.

Beijing has ‘cleanest month’ in 9 years (China Daily, 5/2/2009) The city experienced its best month of air quality since 2000 with 23 blue-sky days in April.