Environmental China, February 18th to February 25th, 2010, Issue 48

OPINION

China: Bigger, badder, and greener than the U.S.? (Washington Examiner, 2/25/2010) China, one of the most polluted countries on Earth, “is already beating the U.S. to clean energy jobs,” gushes Tony Kreindler of the Environmental Defense Fund, and “is quickly becoming the global powerhouse in clean energy manufacturing and innovation, dwarfing the efforts of America.”

Control firecrackers, protect civil rights (China Daily, 2/24/2010) The gaiety of the Spring Festival is welcome, but not the air and noise pollution. The celebration of the Lunar New Year is cherished, but not at the expense of others. Our right to a clean and quiet environment is always violated by fireworks during the festival.

Can China’s farms cope with urbanization and pollution? (Greenfudge, 2/24/2010) As China continues to rapidly develop and urbanize, increasing pressure is put on the farmland of the Asian superpower. Pollution from toxic factory waste and an inordinate use of nitrogen fertilizers – more than twice the global average – are deteriorating the quality of China’s soil. Expanding urban areas are also diminishing the country’s precious arable land.

Environmental taxes don’t tackle real problem in China (Global Times, 2/21/2010) In classic economics, the theoretical argument for environmental taxes was put forward by Arthur Cecil Pigou, a British economist. In his book, Welfare Economics, he said we need to draw taxes from activities that have bad external effects such as environmental pollution, to compensate for the damage done by such activities.

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

China Times: Taiwan urgently needs green revolution (Taiwan News, 2/25/2010) The premiere of the film "Plus or Minus Two Degrees Celsius, " which is the Taiwan version of "An Inconvenient Truth, " has raised hopes among many local people that the problem of Taiwan's deteriorating environment would finally be addressed.

China’s green groups start year of the tiger with consumer campaign (Guardian, 2/23/2010) As China winds down from its biggest ever binge of spring festival feasting and fireworks, environmentalists have launched a new drive to persuade consumers to spend more responsibly.

Extinct animals are quickly forgotten: the baiji and shifting baselines (Mongabay, 2/23/2010) In 2006 a survey in China to locate the endangered Yangtze River dolphin, known as the baiji, found no evidence of its survival. Despondent, researchers declared that the baiji was likely extinct. Four years later and the large charismatic marine mammal is not only 'likely extinct', but in danger of being forgotten, according to a surprising new study "Rapidly Shifting Baselines in Yangtze Fishing Communities and Local Memory of Extinct Species" in Conservation Biology.

Factory’s pollution victimizes half a million people in Central China (The Epoch Times, 2/22/2010) A factory in Hunan Province has been emitting toxic metals which have polluted water sources in over ten townships. Though cancer cases have skyrocketed, and 51,834 children have been identified with excessive blood levels of lead and cadmium, victims are powerless, since the company is a state-owned enterprise.

Electric bikes on a roll in China (AFP, 2/21/2010) Chinese commuters in their millions are turning to electric bicycles -- hailed as the environmentally-friendly future of personal transport in the country's teeming cities.

M is for Magnesium and Memory (Examiner, 2/18/2010) Three studies recently have highlighted the benefits of adequate magnesium intake in older adults.

CORPORATIONS

Dam plans open gates to tough choices ahead (IPS, 2/25/2010) The Nu River flows from the Tibetan highlands through China’s western Yunnan province, cutting between two mountain ranges before rushing through Burma into the Andaman Sea. It is home to a third of the country’s ethnic groups and a diverse ecosystem of 7,000 species of plants and 80 rare or endangered animals and fish.

China Green Material Technologies, Inc. to expand annual production capacity by nearly 160% to 22,000 tons (PRNewswire, 2/25/2010) China Green Material Technologies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CAGM; "CAGM" or "the Company"), a Chinese leader in developing and manufacturing starch-based biodegradable fast-moving consumer goods packaging, today announced the Company has acquired a new manufacturing facility and plans to relocate in May 2010, expanding its capacity by nearly 160%.

Chinese solar manufacturing company proposing $20.7 million Austin plant (The American-Statesman, 2/25/2010) A Chinese solar energy company is proposing to build a solar-panel plant in Austin, investing $20.7 million and creating more than 300 jobs.

China pollution concerns dash Hummer deal (Industry Week, 2/25/2010) China's environmental concerns have dashed Tengzhong's dream of buying the iconic Hummer brand from General Motors.

China solar stocks green on Deutsche Bullish Call (Greenstocks, 2/25/2010) China solar stocks have been crushed over the past month, but today are green on a day when the market is down significantly. This is the kind of relative strength that indicates that perhaps they have reached a turning point. I think it’s too soon to call a bottom in the China solar stocks, but this is a good start. The relative strength certainly isn’t without a catalyst .. Deutsche came out with a bullish call this morning and GT Solar (SOLR) announced a big order for its ingot furnaces in China which indicates expansion of capacity.

China faces shortages of migrant workers (Financial Times, 2/25/2010) One day last week, the welcoming committee sent by the world’s largest manufacturer of microwave ovens waited in vain outside the main railway station in Guangzhou, capital of China’s southern Guangdong province.

China poised for big role in future of biotech crops (Des Moines Register, 2/24/2010) Genetically engineered crops are hot in Brazil, where Pioneer Hi-Bred is benefiting from the popularity of biotech corn seed. But the country to watch in coming years could be China, according to a group that tracks the technology.

Environmental liabilities increasing in China under new torts law (Lexology, 2/23/2010) On Dec 26, 2009, China's National People's Congress approved a new torts law that will increase the liabilities forenvironmental pollution. We see this as another step forward in China’s environmental protection movement, and American companies should understand the potential liabilities when they conduct business in or with China.

4 central SOEs battle over electric car charge station market (People’s Daily, 2/23/2010) The Beijing Branch of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and Beijing Capital Sci-Tech Group Corp. on February 22 agreed to form a joint venture, intending to develop Sinopec's current large gas stations into stations available for both fuel-based and electric vehicles.

China’s wind power sector faces challenges (UPI, 2/22/2010) Amid steep competition and lower profit margins, some industry insiders say China's wind turbine sector grew at the expense of quality.

China Green comes to Texas…and other green issues (The Energy Collective, 2/22/2010) Will U.S. power consumers ever rely on Chinese green power for their electricity? This notion, that just a few years ago seemed far fetched, will likely become a reality. On Tuesday, Chinese wind turbine maker A-Power Energy Generation Systems received Chinese regulatory approval to proceed with a 600 megawatts, $1.5 billion wind farm to be constructed in Texas. The greenlight by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission is a crucial hurdle to pass and will allow the project developers to, among other things, start approaching banks for financing.

GOVERNMENT

UN warns India, China over e-waste management (Breaking News Online, 2/25/2010) The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned India and China over the e-waste management, and said they could face disaster in future, if appropriate action is not taken immediately.

China to release pollution-fighting fish in lake (AFP, 2/24/2010) Authorities in eastern China have said they will release 20 million algae-eating fish into one of the nation's most scenic lakes that has been ravaged by pollution.

Water project leads to mass relocation (Xinhua, 2/24/2010) The mass relocation of residents affected by China's giant South-to-North Water Diversion (SNWD) project will accelerte this year after years of waiting.

China may take three years to allow sales of gene-modified corn (Business Week, 2/24/2010) China, the world’s biggest grain producer, may take at least three years before gene-modified corn can be grown commercially, according to a state scientist who participated in the research.

U.S. China at odds over climate talks in 2010 (Reuters, 2/24/2010) The United States is at odds with China and other developing nations by favoring a Copenhagen climate accord as the blueprint in 2010 for a stronger deal to fight global warming, documents showed on Wednesday.

China’s Dubai-on-the-Yangtze (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/23/2010) The township of Huaxi in the Yangtze River Delta is a proud symbol of how Chinese communists embraced capitalism to lift 300 million people out of poverty during the past three decades.

China’s soil deterioration may become growing food crisis, adviser claims (Guardian, 2/23/2010) The quality of China's overworked, polluted and artificially fertilised soil needs to be protected or the country could struggle to grow enough crops for the 300 million to 400 million people who will move from the countryside to the city over the next 30 years, a senior government adviser warned today.

China maps 70,000 villages, townships in 2009 (CCTV, 2/19/2010) Chinese mapping authorities had worked out about 70,000 topographic charts and image graphics for the rural areas in the past year.

Weather rockets curb forest fire amid southwest China drought (People’s Daily, 2/19/2010) Southwest China's Yunnan Province launched 1,555 weather rockets Wednesday and Thursday to curb the risk of forest fire amid the worst drought in 60 years, said provincial meteorological authorities.

China’s H1N1 death toll 160 times higher than official figure (Epoch Times, 2/18/2010) Soon after the release of its investigation report of the H1N1 epidemic in Guangzhou, Southern China’s capital city, H1N1China.orgreleased another survey report of the epidemic throughout China, which indicates that the Chinese communist regime is covering-up the epidemic.

Environmental China, February 12th to February 18th, 2010, Issue 47

OPINION

China’s first national pollution census: What does it mean for your business in the next five years? (CSR Asia, 2/18/2010) Just before the Lunar New Year, China announced the results of its first national pollution census, which mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste.

Charity Case (Newsweek, 2/17/2010) Whether they like it or not, China has been very good for Tibetans.

Urban form, Behavior energy modeling in Sim City (World Changing, 2/16/2010) One of the great challenges in urban planning and green building has been material life cycle energy use--how steel, concrete and wood products were produced and transported. Add to that the decisions people make once construction is finished, and you can rightly conclude that development standards have only scratched the veneer of total energy and sustainability impacts.

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

Environmentalists urge Beijing residents to take to bikes (Earth Times, 2/18/2010) When the Chinese dragon "coughs," it's largely due to the high degree of air pollution. In Beijing, for example, the amount of toxic substances in the air often is above approved limits. Chinese industries are accelerating production while traffic in the capital is incessantly increasing the amount of toxins and carbon dioxide in the air.

Chinese farming practices are acidifying soils (Mongabay.com, 2/11/2010) A new study in Science shows that farming practices in China are acidifying the nation's soils and threatening long term productivity at a time when food concerns worldwide have never been higher. The culprit is the increasing use of nitrogen fertilizer.

China’s fertilizer fetish making soils more acidic – up to 100 times worse than acid rain (Treehugger, 2/12/2010) Brian recently told us about how China's water pollution problems are probably twice as bad as official government statistics show. Part of that is due to agricultural run-off from excessive fertilizer use. But water isn't the only thing being polluted by too much fertilizer. Mongabay highlights a new article in Science which details who China's soils are acidifying because of bad agricultural practice.

CORPORATIONS

China becomes world’s biggest car market (Press Office, 2/18/2010) China fulfilled industry expectations to become the world's biggest car market in 2009, overtaking the US by a significant margin. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reported total vehicle sales of 13.64mn units in 2009, up 46.15% from 9.4mn the previous year.

China’s high-growth ghost towns (Foreign Policy, 2/18/2010) Visiting the eerily vacant epicenter of unsustainable progress, far out in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

China’s high-growth ghost towns (Foreign Policy, 2/18/2010) Visiting the eerily vacant epicenter of unsustainable progress, far out in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

Cement industry will spend $3.5 billion for air pollution (The McIlvaine Company, 2/17/2010) With China leading the way, the cement industry will invest more than $3.5 billion for air pollution control systems in 2010. Nearly 50 percent of this investment will be for fabric filters. These are the latest forecasts from the McIlvaine Company reports: World Fabric Filter and Element Markets, Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets, NOx Control World Markets and Electrostatic Precipitator World Markets.

Slow trip across sea aids profit and environment (New York Times, 2/16/2010) It took more than a month for the container ship Ebba Maersk to steam from Germany to Guangdong, China, where it unloaded cargo on a recent Friday — a week longer than it did two years ago.

China Industrial Waste Management provides update on Dongtai Organic Waste Treatment Project (PR Newswire, 2/11/2010) China Industrial Waste Management, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CIWT) ("China Industrial Waste Management" or the "Company"), a leading environmental services and solutions provider in China, announced today that its Dongtai Organic Waste Treatment Project (the "Project") received its first payment of $120,000 from the sale of biogas (natural gas). The Company expects the Project to yield at least $180,000 per month in revenues from supply of natural gas when it reaches full capacity.

GOVERNMENT

Tibetian Nationhood – A Quiet Revolution in the Making (Khaleej Times, 2/14/2010) Last year around this time Tibetans decided to observe the traditional New Year — or Losar — as an occasion of mourning for those killed in China’s crackdown in 2008 following the Tibet uprising.

China advances in independently tapping nuclear power (iStockAnalyst, 2/17/2010) Wang Binhua said that along with the No.1 generating unit put into construction at the Shandong Haiyang Nuclear Power Station on Dec. 28, 2009, three out of the four AP1000-based generating units have entered the stage of main body engineering construction. So far, all the generating unit projects are going smoothly. The Sanmen Nuclear Power Station is scheduled to generate electric power with its first generating unit in August 2013. Haiyang Nuclear Power Station is to follow suit with its first generating unit in February 2014.

Brazil, China to postpone joint satellite launching to 2011 (MundoGeo, 2/18/2010) Brazil and China will postpone their fourth joint satellite launching from 2010 to mid-2011, a Brazilian official said Wednesday.

Spain approves carbon offset projects in China, India, Peru (Bloomberg, 2/17/2010) Spain approved seven clean-energy projects to offset its carbon emissions with reductions in the developing world, the Environment Ministry said.

China’s Sri Lanka port raises concern (UPI, 2/17/2010) China's construction of a port in Sri Lanka and a Chinese admiral's suggestion Beijing build a naval base in the Gulf of Aden has raised fears in the Middle East that a confrontation between China and India is looming along vital energy export routes.

China blacklists polluting factories (Greenpeace, 2/12/2010) Industries pumping out poisonous substances day after day into rivers that entire communities rely on for their basic water needs - the reality of water pollution in China is one of the country's biggest tragedies.

Call for stricter food labeling after China pollution revelations (ABC Rural, 2/11/2010) Revelations that China's farm sector is doing huge environmental damage has prompted new calls for tougher country of origin labelling.

Environmental China, February 5th to February 12th, 2010, Issue 46

OPINION

Why China keeps poisoning the milk (Wall Street Journal, 2/10/2010) China and Japan are each going through their own unique quality crises. In China, officials are hunting for 170 tons of contaminated milk powder that is still on shelves more than a year after the melamine scandal was first exposed. And in Japan, discussions are focused on all that has gone wrong with its automotive industry after Toyota's recent recalls. But a closer look at the two scandals shows how far apart the countries are in their approach to quality—and how much China stands to learn from Japan.

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

Chinese farming practices are acidifying soils (Mongabay.com, 2/11/2010) A new study in Science shows that farming practices in China are acidifying the nation's soils and threatening long term productivity at a time when food concerns worldwide have never been higher. The culprit is the increasing use of nitrogen fertilizer.

China’s first modern coal plant receives $135 million loan (EcoSeed, 2/11/2010) China’s efforts to make its coal use more efficient in reducing carbon emissions, a first in a developing country, have been given a $135 million loan support by the Asian Development Bank.

Survey shows water crisis is public’s main concern (People’s Daily, 2/11/2010) Corporate Social Responsibility Research Center of Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) released a Corporate Social Responsibility Survey 2010 and the top ten issues of corporate social responsibility on Tuesday. The public's main concern is the water crisis, pollution and food safety.

Songjiang perch returns to Shanghai dining tables after 22 years (Channel News Asia, 2/11/2010) There is a new dish on the menu this Lunar New Year. For the first time in more than 20 years, the Songjiang perch, also known as the roughskin sculpin, will make an appearance in Shanghai. 


China’s farms pollute as much as its factories, survey finds (The Hindu, 2/10/2010) For every tonne of chemical effluents that factories dump into China’s rivers and lakes, a comparable amount of harmful waste finds its way into this country’s water bodies from green fields and farmhouses.

90% of Himalayan glacier melting caused by aerosols and black carbon (Treehugger, 2/9/2010) The article goes on to caution that black carbon may be an even larger contributor than that though--perhaps as much as four times higher Menon says--because data inventories used in the simulations report less black carbon than what has been measured at several monitoring stations in India.Unfortunately though, this measured data is not complete enough to be incorporated into these particular climate model.

Drought causes economic loss of 952 mln USD Yunnan Province (People’s Daily, 2/8/2010) The worst drought in 60 years has inflicted a direct agricultural economic loss of 6.5 billion yuan (952 million U.S. dollars) in southwest China's Yunnan Province, a local official said Sunday.

Chinese villagers attack government building (Reuters, 2/8/2010) More than 300 people in a southern Chinese town attacked a government building over the weekend in protest against a water diversion scheme, state news agency Xinhua said on Monday.

Villagers protest against water diversion project (China Daily, 2/8/2010) More than 300 villagers attacked a local government building Sunday in a small town of south China's Guangdong Province, protesting against a government-sponsored project to divert some of its water to a neighboring town.

Beijing’s wetland faces serious degradation (CCTV, 2/8/2010) It has been learned from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry working conference that Beijing’s wetland areas, only about 51,400 hectares, are declining drastically, and the city faces a severe threat of environmental degradation.

International Potato Center opens Asia branch in China (The Independent, 2/8/2010) The International Potato Center, repository of the largest potato gene bank in the world, has opened a regional office in China to help boost Asian production of the ubiquitous tubers, the Peru-based center said Thursday.

China brews superbugs (Sydney Morning Herald, 2/7/2010) China’s reckless use of antibiotics in its health system and agricultural production is fuelling an explosion of drug-resistant superbugs that threaten global health.

Tibet temperatures highest since records began say Chinese climatologists (Guardian, 2/5/2010) The roof of the world is heating up, according to a report today that said temperatures in Tibet soared last year to the highest level since records began.

CORPORATIONS

Australia Greens question colossal China coal deal (AFP, 2/12/2010) A massive Australian coal export deal with China, seen as boosting the economy and creating jobs, would ultimately result in enormous greenhouse gas emissions, The Greens political party said Sunday.

ADB offers USD135 million to green coal power project in China (ChinaCSR, 2/11/2010) The Manila-based Asian Development Bank has received approval to provide a USD135 million loan to a green coal power demonstration project in Tianjin to help develop clean coal power system and reduce green house gas emissions and pollution in China.

China Industrial Waste Management provides update on Dongtai organic waste treatment project (PR Newswire, 2/11/2010) China Industrial Waste Management, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: CIWT) ("China Industrial Waste Management" or the "Company"), a leading environmental services and solutions provider in China, announced today that its Dongtai Organic Waste Treatment Project (the "Project") received its first payment of $120,000 from the sale of biogas (natural gas). The Company expects the Project to yield at least $180,000 per month in revenues from supply of natural gas when it reaches full capacity.

China Coal to modernize Uzbekistani coal mine for US$120.4 mln (China Knowledge, 2/11/2010) China Coal Energy Company<601898><1898>, one of the leading coal producers in the country, has won a tender to modernize an Uzbekistani coal mine for US$ 120.4 million by the end of 2011, according to source

China Environment wins S$1.2 m thermal power plant contract (Channel News Asia, 2/10/2010) Mainboard-listed waste gas treatment firm, China Environment, said it has won a S$12.1 million contract.

Eastern Environment to partner with Veolia Environment to generate clean energy from landfill gas (CNNMoney, 2/09/2010) Eastern Environment Solutions Corporation (OTCBB: EESC), a leading provider of municipal solid waste (MSW) processing and disposal services in northeast China, entered into a letter of intent with Veolia Environment, one of the world's leading environmental services firms, on a project to establish a power plant that would utilize recaptured landfill gas from Eastern Environment's Harbin landfill to power turbines and generate electricity.

China’s ICBC to adjust lending to promote more eco-friendly growth (China Daily, 2/9/2010) China's largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), said Monday it would tailor its lending to promote more environmentally friendly economic growth.

Huaneng said to plan $1 billion H.K. wind power IPO (Business Week, 2/8/2010) China Huaneng Group Corp., the country’s largest power producer, plans to take its wind power unit public in a Hong Kong share sale this year worth at least $1 billion, said four people familiar with the plan.

Australian firm strikes $60B coal deal with China (Boston Herald, 2/6/2010) Australian company Resourcehouse Ltd. said Saturday that it has struck a $60 billion, 20-year agreement to supply coal to China Power International Development Ltd., calling it Australia’s biggest export contract.

Old mine may house garbage-burning plant (China Daily, 2/5/2010) A controversial waste treatment project once slated for Liulitun, Haidian district, Beijing may be recycled and built instead in an isolated mountainous area far from populated parts of the city, a Beijing News report said yesterday.

Poisoning probe focuses on Sprite container (China Daily, 2/5/2010) Police have sent the metal packaging of a sprite drink to a specialist laboratory for tests in a bid to unravel the mystery of how a man was hospitalized with mercury poisoning, the Beijing News reported.

GOVERNMENT

China issues policy on NOx emissions (Market Watch, 2/11/2010) Fuel Tech, Inc. (FTEK 5.62, -0.01, -0.18%) , a world leader in advanced engineering solutions for the optimization of combustion systems and emissions control in utility and industrial applications, provides the following summary on the recently announced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission control policy from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China.

China fears of rich nation ‘climate conspiracy’ at Copenhagen revealed (Guardian, 2/11/2010) Rich nations furthered their "conspiracy to divide the developing world" at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen, while Canada "connived" and the EU acted "to please the United States", according to an internal document from a Chinese government thinktank obtained by the Guardian.

China finds energy security is ‘a breeze’ (Market Watch, 2/10/2010) As China's need for energy security grows, so does its interest in wind -- an environmentally friendly, cheap, abundant and powerful energy source -- and that's likely to benefit all sorts of companies in the industry, from wind farmers and operators to turbine manufacturers.

China: The First Chinese Standard for voluntary greenhouse gas offset (Mondaq, 2/10/2010) On 26 November 2009, the State Council of the People's Republic of China announced that the PRC pledged to voluntarily reduce its carbon intensity at 40 percent - 45 percent per unit of gross domestic product by 2020 against 2005. As the first step to move towards a low carbon society in line with the national policy, the China Beijing Environment Exchange ("CBEEX") officially released the first standard for voluntary greenhouse gas ("GHG") offset entitled "Panda Standard Version 1.0" on 16 December 2009 at the Copenhagen Convention. The principal founders of the Panda Standard are CBEEX, the BlueNext (Europe's largest carbon credits exchange) and the China Forestry Exchange.

Guangzhou battles bad air quality ahead of Asian Games (The Times of India, 2/10/2010) The battle against “bad air” quality that authorities fought before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is now repeated in the south China city of Guangzhou, which is hosting the Asian Games in November. Local officials have expressed worries that the atmospheric demon would not be easy to beat down.

China releases first national pollution census (AP, 2/10/2010) China has revealed its most ambitious measure of what explosive development has done to its environment, saying Tuesday its first national pollution census has mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste.

China, India seeks to limit climate plan, Stern says (Business Week, 2/09/2010) China, India, South Africa and Brazil seek to “limit the impact” of the U.S.-led Copenhagen Accord by emphasizing that the climate change deal isn’t legally binding, U.S. negotiator Todd Stern said today.

China both pollutes and tackles pollution in quest for clean coal (Seeking Alpha, 2/8/2010) China is part of the global Co2 emissions problem. So is the U.S., and if you ask Al Gore, so are humans for breathing. (Well excuse me for breathing, Al!)

China marks year of tiger with drive to save biggest cat (Guardian, 2/7/2010) Taking turns to act as human ploughs, Liang Jianmin and his tiger survey team forge through mile after mile of knee-deep snow in the mountain forests near China's frozen mountain border with Siberia.

China likely to replace India in Iran-Pak gas pipeline (One India, 2/6/2010) Iran Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said that China is keen to join the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline Project.

Chicken parts join menu of U.S.-China disputes (Reuters, 2/5/2010) China said on Friday it will slap heavy anti-dumping duties on U.S. chicken parts, a move likely to aggravate trade ties between two of the world's most important economies at a time of strained political relations.

China’s 2009 State Land sales cover 40% of stimulus plan’s cost (Bloomberg, 2/5/2010) China’s government netted 1.6 trillion yuan ($234 billion) from land sales last year, or 40 percent of the cost of the nation’s two-year stimulus package.

Environmental China, January 28nd to February 5th, Issue 45

OPINION

China and green GDP (The Energy Collective, 2/3/2010) Back in the mid-2000s China began to experiment with the notion of Green GDP as a new way of accounting for its growth in an environmental context. This was touched on in a previous blog post, but I thought a more in depth look into exactly what Green GDP showed and why it failed would provide some insight.

Chinese cities growing fast (The China Business Network, 2/3/2010) Head of Tishman Speyer China Ryan Botjer experiences first hand China's rapidly expanding cities. His company is a major business real estate company and has enjoyed much success especially in the growing 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities. He warns, though, that the cities can grow only as fast as the infrastructure can keep up.

China, U.S., and Europe race for the smart grid (Mother Nature Network, 2/1/2010) Are American electric utilities lagging behind China in the race to fund and build the construction of a smart energy grid?

PUBLIC SECTOR/NGOs

The revival of bicycles in Beijing (Xinhua, 1/28/2010) Commuting in China's big cities is a daunting experience. The phrase "rush hour" takes on a whole new meaning, and an ominous one, in a city like Beijing which has 20 million residents and 4 million private cars. Congestion and pollution are serious problems.

CORPORATIONS

FIFA goes green with solar-powered sponsor (EcoSeed, 2/4/2010) This year’s FIFA World Cup is brought to you by… solar panels? This is certainly the case this year, as Yingli Green (NYSE:YGE ) becomes the first renewable energy company in history to sponsor the prestigious football tournament. The announcement was made at the 2010 FIFA World Cup press conference held in Beijing, during which Miao Liansheng, Yingli Green chief executive, spoke and video messages from FIFA headquarters in Zurich were aired.

Future of China’s tiger farms in the balance (IPS, 1/30/2010) The road to the world’s first tiger summit in Vladivostok later this year will have to be paved with answers about the future of tiger farms in China and other East Asian countries, said conservationists.

China leading global race to make clean energy (New York Times, 1/30/2010) China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year.

GOVERNMENT

Nanning wins top environmental prize (China Daily, 2/4/2010) Nanning has won a top Chinese environmental prize after it received the Habitat Scroll of Honor Award from UN-Habitat in 2007, another reward for its relentless efforts to protect its environment.

China strives for first ‘green’ Expo (AFP, 2/4/2010) China, the world's number one emitter of greenhouse gases, aims to hold the first "green" World Expo in Shanghai, as the sprawling metropolis tries to shed its polluted past and become eco-friendly.

China may scrap plan for mills to match ArcelorMittal (BusinessWeek, 2/4/2010) China, the world’s largest steel producer, may pull back from encouraging steelmakers to get as large as global leader ArcelorMittal, as it directs mills to focus on improving product quality, a government adviser said.

China’s labor edge overpowers Obama’s ‘Green’ jobs initiatives (Bloomberg, 2/4/2010) President Barack Obama is spending $2.1 million to help Suntech Power Holdings Co. build a solar- panel plant in Arizona. It will hire 70 Americans to assemble components made by Suntech’s 11,000 Chinese workers.

3,391 officials indicted in China for environment-related duty dereliction (Xinhua, 1/29/2010) China's procuratorate authorities had prosecuted 3,391 public officials from April 2008 to last November for dereliction of duty in cases that caused damage to the natural environment and waste of energy resources.