Program of Action for Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century (Part II)

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, July 26, 2003

Program of Action for Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century (Part II)

In the wake of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, the Chinese government published China's Agenda 21 - White Paper on China's Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century as a platform document for guidingthe country's social and economic development. That document marked the beginning of the sustainable development process in China. To help implement the sustainable development strategy, this Program of Action for Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century (hereinafter referred to as the "Program") is hereby promulgated.

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Part II: Guidelines, Objectives and Principles

1. Guidelines

Human-centered

Harmony between man and nature

Centering around economic growth and proceeding from the need to improve the quality of life for the people

Seeking breakthroughs via scientific and institutional innovations

Unwaveringly promoting harmony between social and economic development on the one side and population, resources and the environment on the other

Steadily enhancing China's overall national strength and competitiveness and laying a solid foundation for the realization of the goal of building a comprehensive xiaokang (moderate prosperity) society by 2020

2. Objectives

Growing capacities for sustainable development

Marked progress in economic restructuring

Population aggregate brought under effective control

Significant improvement in the ecological environment

Markedly increased efficiency in utilization of resources

Sustainable path of development characterized by rising productivity, prosperous livelihood and a well-preserved environment.

Specifically, this strategy seeks to achieve the following:

Economic restructuring. Complete a transition, to be broughtabout through a strategic restructuring of the national economy, from the old mode of economic growth characterized by high consumption of resources, high pollution and low efficiency, to a new, sustainable pattern of low consumption, low pollution and high efficiency. Promote optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, alleviate pressure on resources and the environment, bridge regional gaps in development, and narrow the urban-rural divide.

Poverty relief. Continue to work on poverty alleviation and rural development; further improve the basic conditions for production and livelihood in poverty-stricken areas by building upinfrastructure and improving the ecological environment; graduallylift the people there out of economic, social and cultural backwardness; improve the quality of life and the overall quality of destitute population; build on successful practices and help the poverty-stricken population shed poverty.

Human resources development. Strictly control population growth; raise the overall quality of the population; build an extensive social security system that encourages quality childbirth and childrearing and make it available to all; provide as much employment as possible; significantly improve public services; build up capacities for disaster prevention and relief and reduce losses; improve vocational training and improve the quality of workers through the introduction of a national accreditation system. By 2010, the total population should be keptwithin 1.4 billion and annual average natural growth rate within 9per thousand. Further expand the coverage of the nine-year compulsory education; the gross enrollment rate reaches 95% for junior high schools and about 20% for higher education, and the literacy rate reaches more than 95% for adults.

Resources development. Rationally develop and efficiently utilize resources; build a sustainable safeguard mechanism and strategic reserve system for important resources.

Environmental protection. Significantly improve the environmental quality for most parts of the country and basically check the deterioration of the ecological balance; basically restore ecological functions and biodiversity in key regions and curb pollution of farmlands. By 2010, forest coverage will reach 20.3%; 33 million hectares of degraded, desertified and alkalized grasslands will be improved; soil erosion will be put under control on another 50 million hectares of land; discharge of main pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and industrial solid wastes willbe reduced by 10% from the preceding five years; sewage treatment will be raised to over 60% in urban areas.

Capacity-building. Build a sound system of laws and regulations on sustainable development; improve the information sharing and policy support systems; build up capacities for scientific decision-making and overall coordination on the part ofgovernment; greatly increase the public's participation in sustainable development efforts; participate more in internationalcooperation in the area of sustainable development.

3. Principles

Achieving sustainable, well-balanced growth. Center around economic development while promoting harmony between man and nature; balance population growth against resources and the environment; keep social and economic development in step with ecological conservation.

Invigorating the nation through science and education and persistent innovation. Give full play to the role of science and technology as the primary productive force and the role of education as the leading, all-encompassing and fundamental factor in economic development. Step up innovation, develop all categories of education, and promote the integration of the sustainable development strategy with the "revitalizing the nationthrough science and education" strategy.

Enabling the government to exercise macro-economic regulation and control and market forces to regulate the performance of the economy. Give full play to the initiatives of government, enterprises, social organizations and the public. The government should increase spending, enhance supervision, play a leading role, and provide a sound policy environment and public services. Market forces should be used fully to encourage businesses, social organizations and the general public to participate in sustainable development.

Actively participating in international cooperation. Open widerto the outside world and participate in the process of economic globalization; take advantage of the domestic and international markets and resources to promote sustainable development.

Achieving breakthroughs in key areas. Make overall planning, highlight priority areas, and implement them in steps. Pool human,material and financial resources to achieve breakthroughs in key areas and regions; on the basis of all this, advance the sustainable development program in an all-round way.

Part I Part III-1 Part III-2 Part IV

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