China considers environmental tax to promote protection

BEIJING - To promote environmental protection, the Chinese government is considering introducing environmental taxes in the country's eco-compensation mechanism, an official said Tuesday.

The government is also planning to further a reform in the resource tax system as a measure to increase compensation for environmental protection and ecological preservation efforts, according to a report by Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Xu delivered the report on behalf of the State Council to lawmakers attending the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, that opened in Beijing on Tuesday.

In addition to compensation drawn from central and local fiscal funds, China will also turn to more market-oriented systems, such as carbon trading, emissions trading and eco-labels, to encourage environmental protection, Xu said.

The eco-compensation mechanism refers to a system in which governments and the beneficiaries of others' environmental protection efforts pay for the protectors' costs and the potential losses they incur by refraining from developing.

According to a report from the NPC's Environment and Resources Protection Committee, loopholes in the country's current eco-compensation system have resulted in problems related to "poverty of a good environment" in some places.