Beijing, China - March 17, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Press conference in progress
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Ganjie, Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection:
"The restriction and ban on importing solid waste is a major measure the Chinese government has taken to implement the new development philosophy, improve the quality of the environment and ecosystems and safeguard national ecological security and protect people's health."

FILE: Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, east China - Sept 13, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. China Customs officers walking by containers
4. Various of China Customs officers checking waste

Beijing, China - March 17, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Ganjie, Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection:
"The volume [of solid waste imports] dropped 12 percent for the whole year. It can be said the effect is good. We will continue to implement the ban and try to reach the goal and meet the requirements made by the Chinese government."

FILE: China - Date unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of officials inspecting waste

Beijing, China - March 17, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Li Ganjie, Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection (partially overlaid with shot 8):
"I think now the most important thing is that not only China, but any other foreign country should implement the spirit of the Basel Convention and try to reduce, dispose of and consume the hazardous waste and other garage they produced, which will be conducive to promoting a global green low-carbon recycling development and building a clean, beautiful world."
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8. Reporters at press conference
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9. Press conference in progress

China's solid waste imports dropped by 12 percent in 2017 after the country imposed a ban on certain garbage in July last year, Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie said Saturday.

The decline came after a string of measures were taken to protect the environment and public health, Li told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC).

"The restriction and ban on importing solid waste is a major measure the Chinese government has taken to implement the new development philosophy, improve the quality of the environment and ecosystems and safeguard national ecological security and protect people's health," he said.

China bans the import of 24 categories of solid waste, including certain types of plastics, paper and textiles and the ban came into force on January 1, 2018, giving companies from Europe to the United States barely six months to look for other options and forcing some to store rubbish in parking lots.

Since the 1980s, China has ­become the world's largest importer of waste or foreign trash. It imported 4 million to 4.5 million tons of solid waste 20 years ago, but the amount rose 10 times to 45 million tons over the past 20 years, Li said.

At the time, this was a valuable source of material for China's booming manufacturing sector, but it was a double-edged sword. Given the lack of effective supervision and monitoring, it was also a source of enormous environmental and health hazards.

Li said in July last year, a 1,700-member team was deployed to conduct spot checks over 1,792 recycling companies only to find that about 60 percent of them had pollution problems.

"The volume [of solid waste imports] dropped 12 percent for the whole year. It can be said the effect is good. We will continue to implement the ban and try to reach the goal and meet the requirements made by the Chinese government," Li said.

Li said China, as a member of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, has the right to prevent hazardous waste from being transferred to its territory. Li called for joint efforts from the international community to dispose of waste properly.

"I think now the most important thing is that not only China, but any other foreign country should implement the spirit of the Basel Convention and try to reduce, dispose of and consume the hazardous waste and other garage they produced, which will be conducive to promoting a global green low-carbon recycling development and building a clean, beautiful world," said Li.

The Convention, an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste among countries, and specifically to prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries, was opened for signature on March 22, 1989, and entered into force on May 5, 1992.