November 21, 2005
The ‘Eleventh Five’ — A Bright Future for Environmental and Occupational Safety in China

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has for the first time placed major emphasis on environmental protection and occupational safety in its five-year national economic and social development plan.

This occurred at the 16th Central Committee 5th meeting, which concluded October 11, 2005. At the meeting the Central Committee formulated its guidelines for the eleventh “Five-Year (2006-2010) National Economic and Social Development Plan.” The document comprises 10 sections with 46 guidelines.

The new emphasis on environmental protection and occupational safety is apparent in several sections of the document. Section II, “Apply Scientific Development to Guide Economic and Social Development,” introduces the need to treat “resources conservation” as a basic national policy. Under this guideline, China will speed up its pace of constructing a “resource-saving and environmentally friendly” society.

Further, Section IV, “Advance the Quality of Industrial Structure,” includes a measure for China to abolish outdated industrial technologies and shut down those businesses that destroy resources, contaminate the environment, and lack safe production conditions.

Specifically, Section VI focuses on “Construct a Resources-Saving and Environmentally-Friendly Society,” emphasizing the need to develop a recyclable economy. It states that China will amplify its strength in environmental protection, placing major focus on pollution prevention, integrated environmental management, and reinforcing control at the source.

Section VII, “Deepen Structural Changes and Promote the Level of External Openness,” mentions the need to control the exportation of products that generate high concentrations of contamination and consume large amounts of energy.

Regarding Occupational Safety, Section IX, “Advance Socialism and Harmonious Society Construction,” stresses the need to protect peoples’ lives and property. It insists on “Safety First,” emphasizing prevention and integrated management and stating the need to implement a system for safe production responsibility. This section also emphasizes the need to strengthen the enforcement of the safe production act. It is noteworthy that China’s National Bureau for the Supervision of Safe Production recently put forward a requirement that the coal mine industry must arrange for either the mine’s responsible person or its production manager to accompany miners and lead mining operations.

Both the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China and the National Bureau for the Supervision of Safe Production are actively developing implementation plans based on the CPC Central Committee’s “Eleventh-Five” guidelines. I foresee intensified efforts in both the government and the industry on environmental protection and occupational safety and health in the next five years. For example, following the “Eleventh-Five” guidelines, China’s National Development Bank and SEPA on October 28, 2005, signed an agreement that the bank will provide 50 billion RMB in the next five years to support the development of environmental protection business. In addition, SEPA’s director attended a meeting in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. EPA on November 8, 2005, signing a memorandum on top priorities items on collaborative strategies.

These moves signal a bright future for environmental and occupational safety in China. Thus this is perfect timing for EnSafe Inc. to expand its services to that nation.

— Victor Liu, PhD, CIH, CSP EnSafe Inc.