US businessman Charlie R. Hayes did not expect that his sewage treatment technology to amount to much on the Chinese mainland, but he quickly found an ideal partner for a joint venture in Dalian, a seaside city in northeast China.

Hayes, chief executive officer of the US-based H2O3 Solutions, Inc. has struck a deal with Bingshan Group, a leading environmental protection firm in Dalian, on the establishment of Dalian Bingshan H2O3 Environmental Solution Co,. Ltd.

At a recent environmental protection fair in Dalian, Hayes and his ozone purifying system drew a large audience. Visitors were amazed as they watched a glass of dirty water turn crystal-clear after it passed through the purifying container.

Hayes himself even drank the purified water to highlight the effect.

The fair featured state-of-the-art technologies for sewage and waste treatment and recycling, as well as a wide variety of environment-friendly products. Some 290 enterprises from China and a dozen other countries participated.

Environmental protection facilities and technologies are enjoying bright prospects in China, where great efforts have been made to protect the environment in recent years, said Hayes.

Sufan Siauw, an Indonesian businessman who speaks fluent Chinese, was also amazed at the changes in China's environment.

"When I arrived in Dalian eight years ago, it was so foggy I couldn't even see the sky," he said. "When someone asked me if I would like to stay here, I said definitely not."

Asked the same question today, Siauw said, "Why not?"

"Dalian is no difference from many cities in developed countries," he said. "It's even more developed than the United States in some aspects -- all taxis here are fueled by natural gas while gasoline is still widely used in the United Sates."

When Dalian Quanxing Central Chemicals Company started to produce lunch boxes out of paper instead of plastic foam in 1992, daily sales hovered below 10 pieces. "Today, citizens are more aware of the environment and we can sell 400,000 pieces a day in Dalian alone," company sources said.

The company's environment-friendly food packaging materials are in use at most department stores, supermarkets and fast food restaurants in Dalian, she said.

As China's economy keeps growing, the country has moved to protect its ecological environment to ensure sustainable development. Measures include promoting the use of electricity, natural gas and other clean energies over coal; increasing green coverage to curb sand and soil erosion; moving polluting enterprises out of densely-populated areas; and encouraging people to save water and sort out garbage.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2002)