The current trend of economic development in China suggests that the gross domestic product (GDP) will quadruple by 2020.

But Niu Wenyuan, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that while China has been enjoying rapid economic growth, the country's economic achievements have been largely gained through a high consumption of resources and ecological degradation.

The country's resources and environment will not keep up with the expansion if this conventional development model continues to be adopted, Minister of the State Environmental Protection Administration Xie Zhenhua has warned.

This kind of economic growth is simply not sustainable, Xie said. Instead, the country should adopt a circular economy mode.

A circular economy puts emphasis on the most efficient use of resources and environmental protection.

It features a resources-to-products-to-regenerated resources economic growth and tries to achieve maximum economic and environmental benefits at a minimal cost.

Compared to the conventional model, a circular economy can make better use of resources and energy, minimize waste discharge, and therefore achieve harmony between society, the economy and the environment.

In recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in developing a circular economy across the country.

At enterprise level, major efforts are promoting clean production, decreasing the use of resources and energy in production and services, and minimizing pollutants.

In 2002, the country implemented the Law on the Promotion of Clean Production, and many provinces and cities have introduced local regulations supporting this.

Statistics show more than 400 enterprises in more than 20 industries have carried out clean production evaluations, nearly 20 local clean production centres have been established, and more than 10,000 people have been trained.

Ten ecological industrial regions have been set up in places where there are large numbers of companies.

Within the regions, by-products or waste produced by some firms are used as raw materials for others.

Cities are taking action to improve the environment while their economies are developed.

To date, 39 cities and urban regions have been authorized as samples for environmental protection.

Two cities, Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province and Guiyang in Southwest China's Guizhou Province, have experimented with building a circular economy.

Seven provinces, including South China's Hainan Province and Northeast China's Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and East China's Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui and Fujian provinces have started making efforts to develop themselves into "eco-provinces."

Xie said the circular economy should be promoted to raise awareness about the necessity of using the method in economic development.

Economic policies for the promotion of a circular economy should be made and policies involving economic use of water and energy be improved.

There should be more research into circular economies and knowhow gained from other countries.

Chen Kun, deputy secretary general of the Chinese Society for Sustainable Development, a non-government research body, said to the achievement of a circular economy requires effort from all walks of life.

"It should not be the task of environment authorities alone," he said.

He said there will be difficulties in promoting a circular economy, because it will be costly to change the conventional way of development.

Zhang Jianyu, a visiting scholar with Tsinghua University, said a circular economy in China was different from those developed countries.

The advanced social, legal and commercial structures of those countries naturally lent themselves to a more holistic approach, while existing laws and regulations made it easier to formalize subsequent relevant legislation. The concept of a "circular economy" emerged against this background.

"In such countries, practices went on first, and then came the concept," he said.

In China, the concept is being promoted by the government from the beginning as the basic elements are improved.

The situation has advantages and disadvantages, Zhang said.

The advantages are that when new companies or development zones are established, the idea of a circular economy can be adopted from the start.

But Zhang said it is a cause of concern that people's emphasis might be distracted from issues like the improvement of laws and regulations, their enforcement and the establishment of companies' sense of responsibility.

Companies might think if they seek and find a circular economy, they can be free from any other responsibilities, he said.

There should be research on the relationship between a circular economy and such issues, he added.

(China Daily October 4, 2004)