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Economic development poses no threat to world

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-22 17:10

China's fast economic growth is not a threat to the world, said Bert Hofman, theWorld Bank's (WB) chief economist for China.

Many people worry about the impact on the environment of China's fast development, as China is now the world's leading energy consumer and the second largest producer of greenhouse gas after the United States, Bert Hofman said.

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China is likely to become the largest producer of greenhouse gas by 2010, according to the World Energy Outlook issued by International Energy Agency (IEA) recently.

However, Hofman said, these concerns needed to be qualified. First of all, the current situation was unlikely to continue and, secondly, China's pollution was not caused only by the country itself. Hofman did not elaborate on these remarks.

China's 11th five-year development plan (2006-2010) includes a 20 percent reduction in energy consumption per unit ofGDPtarget for the five-year period, and a more general objective of transforming the country into a resource-saving and environment-friendly society.

China's GDP is expected to top 20 trillion yuan (2.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2007, a rise of 10.5 percentyear-on-year, according to projections by theNational Development and Reform Commission(NDRC).

China is influencing other countries through trade, investment and assistance, but also through knowledge and ideas, Hofman said, adding that people often ignore China's progress in education and research.