WASHINGTON, June 18, 2020—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a loan of US$200 million to China for the Jiangxi Eco-industrial Parks Project, which will strengthen Jiangxi Province’s institutional and regulatory framework for eco-industrial parks, bringing them in line with international standards and helping to reduce the country’s pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
China’s industrial sector is responsible for around 70 percent of environmental pollution and 72 percent of greenhouse (GHG) emissions in the country. As most industrial production takes place within industrial parks, these parks are thought to account for the majority of total resource use, pollution, and waste in the country. China has made the promotion of green industrial parks a central aspect of its strategy to green industries.
“We will support Jiangxi province’s efforts to upgrade its industrial parks to decouple economic growth from environmental pollution and intensive energy use. The project will address key institutional constraints to green growth by helping establish a new standard, framework and monitoring platform for eco-industrial parks consistent with international good practices,” said Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for China. "The project will generate important lessons that could help make a tangible impact on China’s and thus the world’s environmental footprint."
At the provincial level, the project will help establish a pioneering performance management system, upgrade the institutional and policy framework for eco-industrial parks, develop zone-level roadmap and action plans, and facilitate learning and capacity building. In the Fuzhou New Industries Zone, one of the leading industrial parks in the province, support will focus on demonstration and zero-waste initiatives including reduced use of plastics and improved solid waste management, and nature-based solutions and eco-system services restoration, such as public space and landscapes upgrading, pollution reduction and water quality improvement.
The project is expected to generate significant climate co-benefits associated with mitigation and adaptation investments such as green buildings, solid waste management and reforestation, directly contributing to a reduction in GHG emissions, environmental pollution and urban flood risks in the Fuzhou New Industries Zone. Additional climate co-benefits would be gained by the adoption of the new provincial eco-industrial policy framework to cover all industrial parks in Jiangxi.
The project will help boost investment that meets green industry screening criteria, and provide incentives for private companies located in the eco-industrial park to invest in clean production.
