China is making progress in its environmental practices, according to a Xinhua article by Lucy-Claire Saunders:
In 2006, Forbes magazine named Shi Zhengrong, a little-known Chinese scientist, one of the world’s billionaires. Three years later, his company, Suntech Power Holdings Ltd, is worth an estimated 6 billion U.S. dollars and stands as the world’s fourth largest producer of solar panels.
It is no coincidence that China is home to one of the world’s leading solar energy companies. Recent legislation like the country’s landmark 2005 Renewable Energy Law has contributed to China’s rapid success in emerging renewable energy markets, Christopher Flavin, president of World Watch Institute, a think tank on sustainability based in Washington D.C., said in a recent phone interview with Xinhua.
In fact, it is hard for environmental experts like Flavin not to be optimistic about China’s initiative in combating climate change. The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planning agency, said in early December that about 40 percent of China’s 586-billion-U.S.-dollar stimulus package is allocated to “green” themes such as biological conservation, environmental protection, and transportation infrastructure, including rail and power grids.
