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China - the World's Largest Emitter of Greenhouse Gases

China's rise has already had a transformational impact on the global economy, bringing benefits to consumers around the world with cheap appliances and clothes, while lifting millions of its own citizens out of poverty. The announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing that its already red-hot economy accelerated in the first three months of 2007 confirms that China will continue to shake global markets for years to come.

But buried in the NBS figures is a description of the way China is growing, and the reason for the IEA estimate of greenhouse gas emissions.

The production of energy-intensive industries in the first quarter expanded rapidly. Rolled steel production was up on last year by 26 per cent, alumina by 54 per cent, aluminium by 43 per cent and ferro-alloys by 44 per cent. Such growth rates are especially telling as the government has for some years given priority to policies to control such industries and their use of raw materials and power, to little effect.

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