China to double 2011 circular economy investment to $300m

The Chinese government will double its investment in the circular economy this year to 2 billion yuan (USD300 million) to support the national policies of energy conservation and emission reduction, a senior official said this week.

He Bingguang, a director-general level official at the department of resource conservation and environmental protection of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said the NDRC will use financial support and tax breaks to draw investment into the circular (recycling) economy, which will benefit companies and society.

Most of the spending will go into the construction of industrial parks, the transformation of urban mining industries, clean production, food waste recycling and staff development, He said.

The major part of the investment will be used in the industrial sector, said Zhou Changyi, director general of the department of energy conservation and resources utilization of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Zhou said eliminating obsolete production capacity and controlling energy-intensive, polluting industries will remain the major tasks in the next five years.

The NDRC has established 178 demonstration units since 2005 to implement circular-economy projects, and about 1,300 companies have joined the program.

He said the results are good examples not only for domestic industries but also for foreign countries.

China has a State-level circular economic pilot area in Chadamu in Qinghai province, covering 256,000 square km. The project includes 15 programs dealing with environmental protection and ecological construction.

The cumulative value of the circular economy industry was 1 trillion yuan (USD150 billion) as of the end of 2010, and it is forecast to grow at least 15 percent annually during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, said He.

According to He, the development plan for the circular economy for the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the first five-year program for the circular economy, will be published by the end of the year. The plan will focus on curbing industrial energy consumption.