Controlling Pollution

China has achieved its pollution reduction targets ahead of schedule for two major air and water indices, Zhou Shengxian, Minister of Environmental Protection, said on November 10.

The index for sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant, dropped 13.14 percent by 2009 compared to 2005 levels after small thermal power plants and steel plants were closed.

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) index, a measure of water pollution, decreased 9.66 percent by 2009 from 2005 levels, and, in the first half of this year, it dropped another 2.39 percent.

The Chinese Government set out to reduce COD and sulfur dioxide levels by 10 percent of 2005 levels by 2010.

Environmental protection authorities will add two items to the major pollutant monitoring list in the next five years—ammoniacal nitrogen, a major water pollutant, and nitrogen oxides, a major air pollutant.

Risk Profiles

Banks will now be required to perform a risk profile assessment and record telephone conversations its staff have with customers before selling them insurance, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a statement on November 8.

Banks should highlight all possible risks associated with an insurance product and not sell them together with deposits, the CBRC said in the statement.

Tourists to Taiwan

The number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan in 2010 is expected to reach 1 million, said Yang Ruizong, head of the Beijing Office of the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association. More emphasis, he said, will be placed on their safety after some mainland tourists were killed in landslides triggered by Typhoon Megi.

As of November 4, a total of 979,000 tourists had visited Taiwan, with an average 4,000 tourists visiting daily. This does not include members of business delegations to Taiwan from the mainland.

Oil Giants' Deal

PetroChina Co. and Royal Dutch Shell have agreed to jointly work on an oil and gas project in Canada and a coal bed methane block in the northern part of China, according to a PetroChina announcement on November 10.

The two oil giants signed a memorandum of understanding for the project in Canada. The two companies also signed an agreement to jointly evaluate coal bed methane reserves in the Daning block of Erdos Basin in north China, PetroChina said on its website.

The two companies took over Australia's Arrow Energy in a $3.05 billion joint bid in July this year.

ADB's Loan

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a loan worth $200 million to China to develop the country's natural gas distribution infrastructure and promote renewable energy use.

The loan, which will be coursed through the second phase of the Municipal Natural Gas Infrastructure Development Project, will support the Chinese Government's initiative to reduce coal consumption and increase the use of cleaner energy sources like natural gas, ADB said on November 10.

China Gas Holdings Ltd., one of the leading private natural gas distribution companies, will use the loan to expand coverage into smaller cities in central and west China.