China is spending 700 billion yuan(US$84.3 billion) in the 2001-2005 period to control pollution and improve environment.

The amount equals to 1.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the same period, said Wang Yuqing, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, at the Sino-ROK Forum on Investment and Technology for Environmental Protection which opened Thursday in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.

The funds is being mainly used to improve water and air pollution, solid waste disposal and construction of environmental protection facilities. The emphasis is placed on heavily polluted regions and cities.

Environment around the globe is deteriorating in the wake of growing economic and population growth, causing a worldwide concern.

In China, some enterprises discharge huge amounts of pollutants, posing a great threat to environment.

The environmental protection sector, a major component of the national economy, has turned into an inter-trade and trans-regional rising industry after a 20-year development. By the end of 2002, people working in this sector exceeded 3.5 million in China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2004)