China and Italy launched a joint program to monitor air quality in the picturesque city of Suzhou on Wednesday, marking the latest Sino-Italian cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

"Although the two countries began cooperating on environmental protection only two years ago, significant progress has been achieved," said Zhu Guangyao, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) of China.

The cooperation has widened from raising energy efficiency to ecological conservation, sustainable agriculture, renewal of energy resources, air quality monitoring and clean traffic, with contracts involving a total of US$27 million, Zhu said at the launching ceremony of the Air Quality Monitoring System (AQMS) program.

The AQMS program with first-phase investment of 3.14 million euro (US$2.95 million) is one of the cooperative projects between SEPA and the Italian Ministry of Environment (IME).

All equipment used in the Suzhou AQMS will be provided by Italy,said Yang Xiaoling, a manager on the Chinese side of the Project Management Office of the Sino-Italian Cooperation on EnvironmentalProtection.

The IME will invest 2.3 million euro (US$2.16 million)in the project's first phase, and the Italian National Research Council-Institute for atmospheric pollution, together with two Italian firms, will provide equipment worth 471,000 euro (US$442,740) and relevant personnel training, Yang said.

The project will help improve Suzhou's air quality and benefit the city's economic, social and environmental development, she said, adding that the success of the pilot project will also provide valuable experience for air pollution control in other Chinese cities.

According to SEPA's 2001 annual report on China's environment, only 30 percent of 341 major Chinese cities had "good" air quality,with the rest slightly polluted, severely polluted or dangerous.

Yang said total investment in pollution control and ecological protection across the country from 2001-2005 will reach 700 billion yuan (about US$85 billion), almost doubling the amount in the 1996-2000 period.

Quite a large portion of the investment will rely on public donations and foreign funds, Yang said, noting that the "constructive, pragmatic and efficient" cooperation between China and Italy will provide valuable experience for China to seek international aid and cooperation for future environmental protection.

Another two Sino-Italian projects, aiming to improve air quality and sustainable energy use, will soon start in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province and Jinan in Shandong Province, respectively, Yangsaid.

( June 20, 2002)