The Shanghai Environmental Protection Committee announced that by the end of 2009, Shanghai will strive to complete every index requirement to build a national environmental protection model city, clearly improve the urban environment and the urban physiognomy, and better reflect and practice the theme of the World Exposition - "Better City, Better Life". Shanghai began the environmental protection activity program last year, and it will continue until 2008. This program involves twenty-five categories from 256 projects, and a total investment from fixed assets amounting to 40 billion Yuan.

According to the requirements of the State Environmental Protection Administration of China (SEPA), a city must fulfill thirty-two index requirements in order to become an environmentally protected model city.

Currently, Shanghai has fulfilled twenty-four requirements, and still have a gap to fill with the other eight index requirements. Wu Xiaoqing , Deputy Director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, affirmed Shanghai's successful achievement of environmental protection, indicating that Shanghai is already well-qualified with a good foundation to "build an environmentally protected model city." Shanghai, while "building an environmentally protected model city," is also implementing its third round of the environmental protection activity program.

According to the arrangements, the third round of the program for environmental protection activity, will for the next three years, take measures to control sources of pollution, and emphasize the establishment and perfection of environmental system management mechanisms and policies.

Currently, Shanghai has worked out an "11th Five-Year" plan for environmental protection, to determine the working objectives and indexes for environmental protection in the next few years, and to ensure an investment of up to 3 percent of Shanghai's GDP, in environmental protection.

By People's Daily Online