China

China will establish a unified certification system for low-carbon products to encourage the consumption of green goods, according to the government.

Despite China’s new premier, Li Keqiang, taking a hard line on pollution at his first news conference Sunday, others, including Communist Party delegates at the national People’s Congress are apparently not convinced that enough action will be taken by the government to clean the country up. In a rare show of Chinese disunity hundreds of delegates at the Congress showed they were also upset at pollution when they issued a protest against the rising level of pollution in the country and took a stand on environmental policy during a meeting on Saturday.

Following a 20 percent drop in prices and tighter margins, China is set to see the results of reorganization among solar-component manufacturers this year.

A number of China’s iron and steel plants will be shut down this year as new industrial emission standards kick in.

China’s Tangshan Iron and Steel Group yesterday announced a cooperation framework agreement with US company Harsco Corp to produce ethanol from converted coal gas.