Reuters 31 Jul 09;
HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's decision to shift the location of a planned $5 billion oil refinery and petrochemical plant in the south after years of public outcry is a sign that environmental concerns can shape policy.
Wang Yang, the Communist Party chief of Guangdong, said the province would move the plant to an unnamed location because of opposition from the community and lawmakers. The project is a joint venture between China's Sinopec Corp. and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
"We only have one planet to live on, so whatever we do on this end will affect others on the other end," Wang told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.
Some environmental activists applauded the move, saying it reflected Beijing's commitment to tackling climate change after years of sacrificing the environment for economic growth.
"The decision by the government shows that they do consider the opinions from different stakeholders across the region, which is a positive sign," said Edward Chan, a Greenpeace campaign manager based in Hong Kong.
In recent years, Chinese citizens have scored some victories over local governments, which have shelved or delayed projects after vocal opposition about pollution and environmental worries.
These include a paraxylene chemical plant in the city of Xiamen that was scrapped on toxicity concerns and a delay over a planned hydroelectric power dam on the Nu river in Yunnan province.
Already the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, China has come under pressure from the international community to curb emissions.
But other experts stopped short of calling the decision a landmark victory for China's green activists, saying environmental practices and requirements were still unevenly enforced and in flux.
"Guangdong is a special province --- it is rich and the local community is very strong, that's not the same for other cities in China," said Ma Zhong, executive vice-dean of the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Beijing's Renmin University.
"I don't believe there's a real environment movement across the country. They (the local governments) are mainly concerned about their own interests."
RESIDENTS COMPLAIN
The Sinopec-Kuwait Petroleum refinery was to have been built in Nansha at the tip of the Pearl River Delta in South China's economic powerhouse of Guangdong.
Residents in Nansha, home to fish and shrimp farmers, have complained about the project, saying a smaller refinery in the area pollutes the air with a strong chemical stench on bad days.
"We have spent much effort in considering Nansha's fragile ecology and also (the refinery's) impact on neighboring provinces, in deciding to relocate," Wang said.
He declined to say where the plant would go, but a source with knowledge of the plans said it was most likely in Zhanjiang in western Guangdong, a less ecologically sensitive area.
"The environment is a significant factor, but I don't think we can yet say that it's the exclusive factor motivating these decisions to relocate these projects," said Beatrice Schaffrath, a Beijing-based lawyer who focuses on environmental regulation.
Other issues were concerns about feasibility, construction and foreign investment in general, she said.
Guangdong, which accounts for about 12 percent of China's economic output, is trying to upgrade its manufacturing sector and has pledged to relocate small and dirty factories away from the Pearl River Delta.
Despite Guangdong's decision, non-governmental groups said they still needed to keep polluters under surveillance.
"Our worries now are that the residents (in the new area) are not as well-educated or informed, or may be more eager to look for economic development," Chan said.
"The story has not ended. It's really important for green groups to pay attention to where the project is moving to."
(Additional reporting by James Pomfret in Guangdong and Chen Aizhu in Beijing, Editing by Dean Yates)
