Entrepreneurs advocate sustainable development
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-19 11:13

Entrepreneurs from more than 100 large industrial businesses in China gathered in Beijing Saturday and set up a national forum to advocate sustainable development, badly needed by the most populous nation in the world.

In an open letter, the entrepreneurs called on enterprises nationwide to promote clean production and an environment-friendly culture to contribute to the country's fight against the deterioration of the environment.

The Forum for Green Chinese Enterprises is the first of its kind in China, and its members mainly come from the heavy industrial sector, including iron and steel production and power generation, a major source of pollution in the country.

"It is the responsibility of every entrepreneur in China to protect the environment and to achieve coordinated social, economic and environmental development in the country," they said in the letter.

They pointed to the fact that clean production will not only benefit the environment but also make their products more competitive in both the domestic and overseas markets.

The forum was set up on the sideline of the Seventh Green China Forum, which opened here Saturday, attracting more than 200 governmental officials, experts and business people to discussing ways to sustainably develop the country.

"The Government will adopt more measures to encourage clean production and punish heavy polluters," said Pan Yue, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, at the forum.

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