China's shoppers shell out on 'green' goods

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 17, 2003

China's shoppers shell out on 'green' goods

Urban Chinese are prepared to shell out more for goods with a green label which presents the sun,hill, lake and ten circles -- the mark of environmental friendship.

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Urban Chinese are prepared to shell out more for goods with a green label which presents the sun,hill, lake and ten circles -- the mark of environmental friendship.

"This label is designed to show our determination to preserve the environment," Zhao Yingmin, an official with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said here Tuesday on the tenth anniversary of China's environmental labeling system.

Designed to encourage clean production, the system grants certificates and labels to products that pass all the quality and production tests.

Zhao said more than 70 billion yuan (8.45 billion US dollars) of made-in-China products had received environmental certificates and were labeled as environment-friendly.

"They are leading products in almost every field of China's manufacturing industry, from electric appliances to textiles. Often, consumers are willing to spend more money on them because of their good quality and increasing environmental awareness," said Zhao.

The certification system had facilitated textile exports to the European Union (EU) due to the similar standards, said Chen Yanping, a SEPA official in charge of certification.

Chen said the standards of these tests were in compliance with the international ISO14020 system.

He also revealed SEPA's plan to convince the government to consider the certified products in government purchasing.

"We need more support from government, from preferential policies to a law on green consumption," said Chen. "But even withall those things, we would still have a long way to go to turn China into a green economy."

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