Is China taking steps towards solving its pollution problems?
China has a rare and important opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. A successful rebalancing of the Chinese economy – moving away from excess reliance on investment and exports and embracing more of a pro-consumption growth model – would be a huge plus in dealing with two key issues: On the one hand, it would enable China to avoid the capacity excesses and protectionist risks that might arise from a continued irrational expansion of a severely unbalanced real economy. But it would also have the advantage of tilting the mix of Chinese output away from a pollution- and energy-intensive growth trajectory. The latest statements from official Beijing are quite encouraging in addressing this conjoined problem. Premier Wen Jiabao’s 5 March “Work Report” to the National People’s Congress strongly endorsed a strategy of macro rebalancing, energy conservation, and environmental remediation. Just as China has had the will and determination to deliver on the reform front over the past 28
