After months of debate, residents of central China's Longquan village finally decided to shut down two paper factories.

It was not an easy decision. The factories have provided the village with an income twice that of its neighbors for the past decade.

The pollutants discharged by the factories, however, created a pervasive stench and killed the fishes in nearby rivers.

Many other Chinese cities and villages have also developed their economies at the cost of the environment. Now, like Longquan, numerous Chinese villages and cities decide to replace their outdated development models with ones that are environment friendly. In Longquan, for example, people have started to grow fruit and greenhouse vegetables.

The Chinese government has also helped the villagers get rid of old mindsets.

In 2003, summarizing the experiences of twenty years, the central government called on the country to "develop in a scientific way."

"Society should go forward with full consideration of fairness,efficiency and justice and never cause losses that can never be retrieved," the policy says.

Like Longquan, numerous other villages have changed their pillar industries to non-pollution ones.

"To some degree, it's the development concept promoted by the government that prompted them to make such decisions," said Zhang Rongchen, a professor with China Central Party School. "Without governmental push, the pace may have been much slower."

Zhang said in past decades many localities saw the growth rate of their gross domestic products (GDP) as the only sign of performance.

Last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao lowered the country's GDP growth expectation in 2005 to 8 percent, saying that China should develop in a coordinated way.

"The ongoing change will determine China's future," said Wu Senzhong, a legal expert with Beijing's congress.

Source: Xinhua