In the past five years, China’s environmental protection industry has grown rapidly, the annual growth of its total production value reaching about 15 percent. Environmental protection enterprises are mostly situated in the more economically developed areas along the coast and rivers in the eastern China. Six percent of them are large ones with fixed assets worth over 50 million yuan. A comprehensive industry has taken shape, which includes the manufacture of environmental protection products and cleaning products, environmental protection services, recycling of wastes and protection of natural ecosystem. A survey by the State Environmental Protection Administration shows that in 2000 there were over 18,000 environmental protection-related enterprises throughout China. The total income of the industry accounted for 1.9 percent of the GDP of 2000, about 1.6 times the total state’s investment in environment pollution control. According to State environmental protection authorities, in the next five years China needs to invest 700 billion yuan in environmental protection and ecological construction, which will provide the environmental protection industry with a good opportunity of fast development. Cleaning technology and products, effective use of resources and environmental services will be the main direction of development of China’s environmental protection industry in the future, and the annual output value of the industry is estimated at 200 billion yuan.
