Dear Vice Minister Zhu, Governor Wang, Executive Secretary Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me, to participate on behalf of UNIDO at this very important event which celebrates the International Ozone Day and in particular the achievements of provinces and cities which have succeeded to accelerate phase out of CFCs and Halons before July 2006. .

UNIDO has participated in this process over the last 13 years My colleagues and myself have been personally involved in these activities on the project sites and have been given the fantastic chance to visit many companies in various cities and provinces of your Great Country implementing some 40 projects for the value of over 120 million US$.. These projects phased out some 17, 000 tonnes of ozone depleting substances in 8 sectors of the Chinese economy. The enterprises assisted wisely used this opportunity to develop their products, their manufacturing facilities and strengthen their position on the domestic and international markets. We have put great emphasis on the training of the managerial and technical staff in the technological and safety aspects of operation of the converted plants. All our efforts contributed to the sustainability of the respective enterprises and also broadened the vision and language skills of the professionals at the plants. So we have been direct and almost daily witnesses of the tremendous success of China in the area of the Montreal Protocol and in other spheres of her economic development.

In 1993, the Government of China invited UNIDO to work on a Halon phase-out project for the Nanjing Fire fighting Equipment Factory. After this, for several years our work was focused mainly on the conversion of domestic refrigerator, freezer and compressor factories.

In UNIDO, we are very proud to mention that the conversion of the Jiaxipera Compressor Factory in Jiaxin and the Huari Refrigerator factory in Hangzhou were the first projects in Article 5 countries where hydrocarbon was used to replace CFC as refrigerant and foam blowing agent. This technology is the most advanced even today and ensure an environmentally fully safe solution based on natural substances, not man-made chemicals. These type of projects were then successfully implemented all around China in provinces like Hubei, Zhejiang, Guandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Liaoning, Jiangsu and so on..

The conversion of CFC-based tobacco fluffing technology at the factories of the State Tobacco Monopoly was also the first of its kind in A5 countries.

In the field of polyurethane foam industry, our cooperation with SEPA created unique opportunities for UNIDO to promote not only the latest available alternative technologies. We also succeeded to elaborate and implement innovative approaches to address the conversion of a great number of SME enterprises. through industrial rationalization and consolidation.

By now almost all Chinese industrial enterprises have been converted to non-CFC technologies. The refrigerators and air conditioners produced in recent years do not contain CFC anymore. But there is still a large stock of refrigeration appliances in the Chinese homes and at the industrial and commercial users, which contain CFC refrigerants. Their maintenance is being addressed in the framework of the Refrigeration Service Sector Plan being implemented in cooperation with UNIDO. Some of the details of this topic will be highlighted in the interesting forthcoming sessions planned for later today and tomorrow.

We are also focusing on agriculture where the phase-out of the consumption and production of the ozone depleting Methyl Bromide is a very complex and important issue impacting millions of Chinese farmers and consumers. We are glad to report to you that together with SEPA, the Ministry of Agriculture and the farmers and producers we have started and already achieved good progress in this programme.

The last remaining area of intervention is the Medical Aerosol Sector. UNIDO in close cooperation with SFDA, SEPA and the industry is concentrating on the Metered Dose Inhaler medicines, which are helping the 40 million Chinese asthma patients to reduce their sufferings. The conversion programme is in the preparation and I hope to report to you good progress during the Next Year's Ozone Day celebrations.

The key to the success of our work in China has been the excellent and open co-operation with the experts, enterprises, industrial associations, ministries and above all with SEPA. I would like to express UNIDO's special thank to SEPA's management and its staff for the excellent support they have been providing to the enterprises and to UNIDO in implementing the various programmes in the interest of China and the entire mankind.

While congratulating all of you for your outstanding achievements in the acceleration of phasing out the ozone depleting substances and thanking the great cooperation throughout the past 12 years we express our keen interest to continue working hands in hands with you on taking on new challenges to protect the local and global environment and to transform the Earth into a safe and healthy place for our children, grand children and the generations to come.