China must at least double the charges it levies on waste water discharges and gas emissions in order to control pollution, a top economic planning official said

BEIJING, China; July 2, 2007.- Bi Jingquan, a vice chairman of the National Development Reform Commission (NDRC), said current rates were too low; increasing them would help Beijing’s efforts to boost energy efficiency and clean up the heavily polluted environment.

Bi, the top official responsible for utility price reform, told a forum that the fee of 0.67 yuan levied in 36 cities per tonne of waste water needed to be at least doubled.

The same went for charges on garbage and sulphur dioxide emissions in order to cover costs and “to offer a reasonable profit margin for processing firms”.

China would gradually expand pollution charges from big cities to smaller towns and the countryside, with local governments responsible for setting detailed rates, Bi said.

China had made little progress cutting discharges of major pollutants in the first half of this year after missing its energy conservation and pollution control goals in 2006, Bi said.

The low rates paid by polluters were partly to blame. “For instance, we need 50 billion yuan to burn garbage every year but we currently collect less than 3 billion yuan in garbage disposal fees,” said Bi.

(Reuters)

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