China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) said Saturday that 26 of the 30 large projects it halted construction on a month ago could be resumed.
The buildings have passed environmental impact assessment, said Zhu Xingxiang, division chief of the environmental impact evaluation department of SEPA. The remaining four projects include two power generators at the Three Gorges Project and the main part of a hydropower station at Xiluodu on Jinsha River, another name for the upper reaches of the Yangtze.
"We are still studying the reports regarding the environmental impact evaluation of the above two big power projects, but insist more reference materials should be submitted over source of water in constructing a third power plant in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region," said Zhu. He declined to comment on the fourth project postponed project.
SEPA ordered a halt on construction on Jan. 18. The projects, mostly hydropower stations, thermal-power plants and other power projects, were considered to have failed to meet environmental standards.
(Xinhua News Agency February 20, 2005)
