Chinese authorities have a timetable for implementing¹ a system of taxing polluters, a senior law researcher has revealed.

据一位高级法律研究员透露，为了贯彻落实污染者税收制度，中国当局制定了一个时间表。

The long-awaited tax, which will replace the current administrative² penalties that are widely seen as ineffective, will be ushered³ in after the law behind it is finalized⁴.

税法立案后，这个期待已久的税收制度将会取代现行收效甚微的行政处罚制度。

The draft law is due to be submitted to the Standing⁵ Committee of the National People's Congress at the end of this year, after it is first made available to the public to solicit⁶ their views, Sun Youhai, director of the China Institute of Applied⁷ Jurisprudence of the Supreme⁸ People's Court, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

周三，最高人民法院中国应用法学研究所所长接受孙佑海新华社采访时说，这个立法草案首次向公众公布征求意见，之后将会在今年年底提交给全国人民代表大会常务委员会。

Sun said he learned the timetable from the Legislative⁹ Affairs Office of the State Council, which has been considering the draft law since receiving it in March 2013 from the Ministry¹⁰ of Finance (MOF), the State Administration of Taxation¹¹ and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

孙佑海所长说他通过国务院法制办公室了解到这个时间表。自2013年3月，国务院法制办公室从国家财政部、国家税务局、国家环保部收到这个时间表后，就开始研究立法草案。

Premier¹² Li Keqiang touched on the tax legislation in his government work report last Thursday.

上周四，李克强总理进行政府工作报告时也谈及此税收立法。

Backed by comprehensive regulation and collected by taxation authorities, the tax will be more powerful in discouraging companies from polluting and will fuel investment in the green industry, experts believe.

专家相信，以综合管理为坚强后盾、由税务机关进行征税，这项税收将会更有力地阻止企业污染环境、刺激绿色产业投资。

Under the current system, environmental watchdogs are tasked with charging companies for pollution, but they have been ineffective in doing so.

根据现行制度，环境监督部门的任务是向污染环境的企业收费，但是这种做法收效甚微。

In 2013, China should have levied¹³ pollutant¹⁴ discharge fees totaling 57.5 billion yuan (about 9.2 billion U.S. dollars), but less than 40 percent of the sum was collected, according to Jia Kang, former head of the Research Institute for Fiscal¹⁵ Science under the MOF.

据前财政部财政科学研究所所长贾康说，2013年，中国本应征收污染物排放费用总计575亿元人民币（约92亿元美元），但实际只征收了不到40%。

Under the draft law, the tax will be levied based on emissions¹⁶ of sulfur¹⁷ dioxide, nitrogen oxides, dust and ammoniacal nitrogen, as well as chemical oxygen demand.

根据立法草案，税收的征收以二氧化硫、氮氧化物、灰尘、氨态氮以及化学需氧量的排放为依据。

Companies will be inspired to invest in anti-pollution technology, boosting this nascent¹⁸ sector¹⁹ and providing a new growth point for the economy, said Professor Lan Hong at Renmin University's School of Environmental and Natural Resources.

人民大学环境与自然资源学院的蓝虹教授说，这样做可以鼓励企业投资研发防污染技术，推动新生产业的发展，为经济提供一个新的增长点。

China's investment in environmental protection is far below the internationally-recognized standard of 3 percent of GDP needed to improve the environment, according to Wang Canfa, director of an environmental research body under the China University of Political Science and Law.

中国政法大学下属的环境研究所所长王灿发说，按照国际认可标准，一个国家改善环境的支出需占国内生产总值的3%，而中国在环境保护方面的投资还远低于此标准。

Despite the high hopes, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said on the sidelines of the parliamentary session that the tax is not a panacea²⁰ to pollution woes²¹ and will not became a major source of government revenue.

尽管期望很高，财政部长楼继伟在两会期间说，税收毕竟不是治理污染问题的万全之策，它不会成为政府收入的主要来源。

Environmental minister Chen Jining told a press conference earlier this month that China is facing a development-environment conflict that is "unprecedented²² in human history".

本月初，环保部部长陈吉宁在新闻发布会上说，中国正面临着“人类史上空前的”发展与环境的矛盾。

Several experts interviewed by Xinhua said they believe the country's pollutant discharge will peak around 2020 and a turning point in environmental quality can only be expected around 2030.

接受新华社采访的几位专家说，他们相信，我国的污染物排放约在2020年达到顶峰，环境质量的转折点要到2030年左右才能出现。

"We're in the dark before the dawn," said Luo Jianhua, secretary general of the China Environment Chamber²³ of Commerce.

中华全国环境商会的秘书长骆建华说：“我们正处于黎明前的黑暗中。”