Lawmaker urges World Bank to publish China figures

WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) A senior US lawmaker urged World Bank President Robert Zoellick to release mortality figures the congressman said were omitted from a draft bank report on the effects of pollution in China.

Barney Frank, a Democrat from Massachusetts, in a letter to Zoellick made public yesterday, applauded the bank's efforts to investigate the effects of pollution problems in China.

But Frank said he was troubled to read that Chinese health and environment officials suppressed estimates of the nearly half-million people who die prematurely each year from breathing polluted air and drinking dirty water, and the parts of China that were worst hit.

''I write to urge you to release this data in order to achieve the report's goal of making public the best and most inclusive information available on the effects of environmental problems,'' said Frank, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

''The world community can only seek solutions to global problems of this type when governments and the multilateral institutions operate without censorship of relevant information that affects the global community,'' he added.

Frank has led US congressional hearings this year on the World Bank and, separately, on Washington's dispute with Beijing over the value of the Chinese currency, which the U.S.

has said is undervalued.

While the World Bank said a final report would be out soon, a conference version of the study on the bank's Web site said about 460,000 Chinese die prematurely each year from breathing polluted air and drinking dirty water.

The study, conducted in partnership with the Chinese government, said some estimates of the physical and economic cost of pollution had been omitted because of uncertainties about calculation methods and their application.

Asked for his reaction, Zoellick did not directly answer Frank's complaint but said it was important to discuss results of reports produced by the bank.

''I'm pleased that the bank has encouraged the preparation of the most comprehensive report by far on the human health effect and economic costs of environmental pollution ever undertaken in China, done by a joint team of Chinese and international experts,'' he said in a statement.

''Like Chairman Frank, we want to encourage an open description and discussion of results, as is the case for reports the World Bank produces on its own. Even in this joint draft, mortality estimates can be calculated on the basis of the statistics presented.'' China is home to some of the world's 20 most polluted cities and is redoubling efforts to clean up the environment.

The authorities are closing down dirty industrial plants, raising car fuel-efficiency standards and tweaking taxes to discourage energy-intensive production.

Reuters JK VP0510