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cost of the programme is some £2 million pa. In many cases we
actively seek to engage firms that have a Hong Kong office in the
interests of better value for money through lower man month
charges, reduced travel costs, greater local knowledge and ease
of communication.
Academic links
12. Under the Academic Links with China Scheme, some 65 active
collaborative links have been established between British and
Chinese Universities. Costs are some £400,000 pa.
The environment
13. China faces grave environmental problems. These include
deforestation, land and water degradation, atmospheric pollution
in urban and industrial centres and loss of biodiversity. China
is one of the largest energy users
energy users in the world and currently
burns 1,000 million tonnes of coal a year.
Thus China has
enormous potential for influencing the global warming situation.
The Government of China recently established the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development
(CCICED) to advise on the integration of environment and economic development. Sir Crispin Tickell is one of the international members of this council. We are interested in promoting a dialogue on environmental issues between China and the donor
community and in possibilities for developing institutional strengthening projects with Chinese environmental institutions. Baroness Chalker will be discussing these possibilities with
Sir Crispin on 19 May and we are arranging an informal OECD (DAC)
discussion of China environmental issues and aid coordination in
mid-June.
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