China’s President Hu picks up green ideas in Japan

Archiv – During his trip through Japan – the first by a Chinese president in more than a decade -President Hu Jintao on Friday visited a bottle-recycling factory at a green industrial zone in Kawasaki, a city once known for its heavy pollution. Hu listened and took notes as Masanori Suzuki, an employee of the plant owned Japan’s second largest steelmaker JFE Group, talked about its environmental protection program.China / Japan | During his trip through Japan – the first by a Chinese president in more than a decade -President Hu Jintao on Friday visited a bottle-recycling factory at a green industrial zone in Kawasaki, a city once known for its heavy pollution. Hu listened and took notes as Masanori Suzuki, an employee of the plant owned Japan’s second largest steelmaker JFE Group, talked about its environmental protection program.
The environment has been one of the key issues on Hu’s agenda during his Japan visit. Last week in Tokyo, Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian and his Japanese counterpart Ichiro Kamoshita signed a document agreeing to cooperate on wastewater treatment projects in rural China.
Pilot schemes, aimed at reducing the amount of pollutants discharged into the Yangtze River, will begin this year in Jiangsu and Chongqing. Under the agreement, Japan will set up drainage disposal facilities, including water purification tanks, in the two regions. Seminars on wastewater disposal technology will also be held in China.
JFE Group has said it will share its environmental protection expertise with some Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian and Guiyang. ’Hu’s tour of the recycling plant might facilitate the cooperation,’ technician Yoshinori Kohno said.
The JFE Group recycling factory processes used bottles and electronics equipment. The plant’s approach to recycling resources and success with environment-related projects could provide a good model for China’s steel industry, Kohno said.