Chinese government issued a green products inventory for government procurement yesterday, signaling the beginnings of a more environment-friendly procurement policy.

From January 1, 2007, the central government and provincial-level governments are asked to give priority to products proven to be environment-friendly.

The policy will be further implemented in governments of all levels from 2008.

The implementation of a green procurement policy will promote green manufacturing and green consumption, and be significant to building an environment-friendly society, Wu Xiaoqing, deputy director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, told Xinhua News Agency.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Environmental Protection Administration released the inventory and a circular on implementing the green procurement policy at a press conference yesterday in Beijing.

The circular stressed that products with China Environmental Labeling should be the principal part of the government procurement, and governments should not purchase products that threaten the environment and public health.

For example, the once-common Volkswagen Santana car does not meet environmental standards and governments should instead buy greener autos.

In 2005, a total of 292.76 billion yuan (US$36.6 billion) was spent on government procurement, an increase of 37 percent year-on-year. Official statistics show this accounted for 1.6 percent of the country's GDP last year.

Purchased goods include cars, office equipment and building materials. The newly issued inventory for green procurement includes 856 products with China Environmental Labeling.

(China Daily November 23, 2006)