*14 ODA in the Environmental Sector

At the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (the so-called "Earth Summit" held in Rio de Janeiro), Japan announced that it would increase its environmental ODA commitments to between ¥900 billion and ¥1,000 billion for the period of fiscal 1992-1996. The actual amount of assistance came to approximately ¥1,440 billion during this period. This trend has continued in recent years. For example, of the 28 projects contained in Japan's fourth ODA loan package for China, 16 projects are focused on the environment in response to environmental deterioration triggered by economic growth. Japan is also promoting the "Japan-China Environmental Model Cities Plan" (covering the three cities of Chongqing, Gui Yang, and Dalian). The aim of this initiative is to develop successful examples of air pollution control and air quality improvement and present these as model cases for the rest of China.