Former United States President George Bush is expected to lead a delegation to the Sino-US forum on environmental protection to be held in Shanghai next month.
"We have confirmed his attendance with his office," said Zhang Tao from the Shanghai office of the US-China Foundation.
Acting in a personal capacity, Bush will lead a business delegation to the forum. It will represent banks, financial consortia and investment institutions, among others.
Zhang said the forum is being organized by the Guangxun Environmental Protection Group and the US-China Foundation.
Multinational and financial institutions from Canada, France, Germany and Japan will also attend the forum, he said.
Li Xiang, chairman of the Guangxun Environmental Protection Group, said China is now "in urgent need of funds to push forward its environmental protection industry."
The country will require between 100 billion yuan (US$12.1 billion) and 120 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) in each of the next years to advance its environmental protection industry.
(China Daily March 24, 2003)
