Pollution a long-term challenge

Two days after the State Council adopted the revised pollution standards recommended by the environment ministry, which include smog-related pollutants such as fine particles, a senior environment official admitted the new standards still lag behind those in the West and pollution is a severe challenge that could take years to overcome, says an article on scmp.com. Excerpts:

Mounting public concern over increasingly bad air in urban areas has finally made the government lay its hand on new standards for smog-related pollutants.

Health studies have shown a close association between PM2.5 - respirable airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can penetrate the lungs - produced by vehicle exhausts, coal-fired power stations and factories, and premature death from heart and lung disease.

Premier Wen Jiabao assured the annual meeting of the National People's Congress the government would not pursue growth at the cost of public health or the environment, and that it was capable of striking a fine balance.

The National Development and Reform Commission later confirmed that annual targets include both energy and carbon intensity and nitrogen oxides, which add to ground-level ozone formation and can cause lung damage.

Deputy Environment Minister Wu Xiaoqing said at least two-thirds of mainland cities - including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - failed the new standards. Nonetheless, environmentalists agreed that they were a landmark move.

Wu is right that the challenge of improving air quality calls for years of unremitting effort from everyone.

The adoption of the new standards shows that public opinion is a critical factor. In that respect, hopefully, they will result in more transparency and increasing pressure on the authorities to step up efforts to control pollution.

Outlet malls will open wallets

Chinese shoppers are famous for flying to Hong Kong and foreign cities such as Milan and Paris, but with Beijing eager to encourage greater domestic consumption, quality outlet malls could become the next hit in China, says an article in the Wall Street Journal Asia. Excerpts:

As the outlet-mall concept - whereby high-end retailers operate shops in outlet malls to sell out-of-season merchandise at a steep discount - comes to China, it's shaking up the retail environment.

Such malls promise to fill an important niche for China's brand-conscious middle class, who still lack for ways to spend their spare cash.

Chinese-owned outlet malls have been around for about a decade, but so far they still lag behind their foreign counterparts in both size and quality Foreign outlet-mall operators have a much easier time recruiting top brands to their China ventures because they have already established trust with their European and American malls.

Boosting domestic consumption is not simply a matter of diverting goods produced in exporting factories into the home market, instead, a successful consumption economy requires special skills to brand and market products, in addition to the ability to physically distribute them.

One of China's challenges in rebalancing is to build up such skills.

While domestic outlet-mall operators struggle, foreign ones with quality management and marketing have started pulling new middle-class consumers into the luxury market and convincing people to shop at home instead of flying abroad. Given the country's economic goals, this trend should be food for thought for the National People's Congress.

(China Daily 03/14/2012 page10)