EUROPEAN UNION
DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN CHINA
欧洲联盟
欧洲委员会驻华代表团
PRESS RELEASE
Beijing, 12 November 2003
EU-China: Agreement on strengthened
environmental cooperation
Today, the European Union and China signed a political agreement on strengthening
environmental cooperation. This comes less than two weeks after European and
Chinese leaders called for a strengthened environmental dialogue during the Sixth EU
China Summit, held in Beijing. The agreement was signed by Environment
Commissioner Margot Wallström and Minister Xie Zhenhua of the State
Environmental Protection Administration in Beijing during Ms. Wallström’s visit to
China. The strengthened cooperation will, among other things, focus on climate
change, biodiversity, and water.
Talking ahead of the signing ceremony, Margot Wallström welcomed the agreement:
“The eyes of the world are on China. With 1.3 billion people and a dynamic growing
economy, China’s development has major global significance. We will work together to
ensure that China chooses the path of sustainable development”. The dialogue will
address common global environmental issues in order to follow up actions agreed at the
Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. It will also promote
collaboration in concrete efforts to address global climate change within the framework
of the Kyoto protocol, which has been signed by China as well as the EU. A key objective
will be to cooperate in further developing and implementing multilateral environmental
agreements.
With regards to bilateral cooperation, both sides draw lessons from a series of joint
cooperation projects aimed at restructuring the provision of industrial energy, improving
energy efficiency, and local industrial restructuring through capacity building in local
governments and clearer production methods. For each field, China underlined the areas
in which it welcomes further cooperation with the EU, such as capacity building and
human resources training, biodiversity conservation, water resources management, and
programmed on automobile emission standards.
The dialogue will take place in the first instance between senior officials designated by
the European Commission and SEPA as a focal point of the EU/China environmental
policy dialogue. They will be in charge of cooperation and future arrangements including
the EU China environmental dialogue at ministerial level. Commissioner Wallström
15 Dongzhimenwai Street, Beijing 100600, China. Tel + (8610) 6532-4443; Fax + (8610) 6532-4342
www.delchn.cec.eu.int
EUROPEAN UNION
DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN CHINA
欧洲联盟
欧洲委员会驻华代表团
invited Minister Xie to visit Brussels in the summer of 2004, to take stock of progress in
the strengthened cooperation.
Commissioner Wallström arrived in Beijing on Monday, kicking off the first ever visit by
an Environment Commissioner to China. During her stay in Beijing, Ms. Wallström met
with Vice Premier Zeng Peiyang, in charge of Environment, and also with Vice Chairman
Zhu Yuli of the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Committee of
National People's Congress.
On Tuesday, the Commissioner travelled to the city of Shenyang to see by herself the
social environmental challenges in the heavily industrialised province of Liaoning, and
inspect the EU’s largest cooperation project in China. With funding of more than 37
million Euro from the EU, the Liaoning Integrated Environmental Programme aims at
assisting the regional government in its efforts to restructure the province. “The project is
going very well. That is why we have decided to extend its duration until June 2005”. The
project is contributing to the development of environmental planning, management and
enforcement capacities, as well as environmental awareness; it encourages cleaner
production, waste minimisation and recycling, energy efficiency and alternative energy
sources; and supports economic and social restructuring.
Protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development is one of the three
key areas for cooperation between the EU and China in the Country Strategy Paper that
sets priorities for EU assistance to China. Current EU projects in the field of environment
with China include LIEP, the Energy and Environment project, and the EC-China
Environmental Management Cooperation Project (EMCP). Another project, on Vehicle
Emission Control, was completed at the end of the first semester of 2003. Two new
projects are currently under preparation.
For questions regarding Ms. Wallström’s visit, please contact the press officer Isabel
Ramallo, at 65324443 ext 269, 13911603579 or Isabel.ramallo@cec.eu.int
For more information on EU China relations, and cooperation projects, please visit:
www.delchn.cec.eu.int
15 Dongzhimenwai Street, Beijing 100600, China. Tel + (8610) 6532-4443; Fax + (8610) 6532-4342
www.delchn.cec.eu.int