Dalian, a coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province, one of the most pristine urban centers in Northeast China, has been included in the "Global Top 500" list maintained by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Vice-Mayor Song Zengbin said UNEP has officially informed Dalian it has been named to the list recently, making the city the first in China to win the honor.
An award ceremony is slated for tomorrow in Italy.
Dalian, formerly one of China's major industrial bases, is one of the few cities in China that have successfully managed the contradictory concerns of economic development, urban construction and environmental protection.
The city has brought all of its industrial complexes in compliance with the country's pollution standards and has moved 105 of its worst polluting enterprises out of the downtown area, sources with the city environmental protection bureau said.
The proportion of dust in the air has dropped by 35 percent, particulate matter by 85 percent and sulphur dioxide by 26 percent in the last 10 years. Oil and lead pollution in the city's harbors has dropped 16 percent and 97 percent, respectively, during the same period.
The forest coverage ratio in the city is 40 percent.
At the same time, the city has also made significant progress in infrastructure construction. In recent years, 50 percent of the city's 2 million people have moved into new houses.
The city has maintained a two-digit growth rate in economic development for the past few years.
(China Daily 06/04/2001)
