The government has scrapped its plan to estimate a "green measure" of gross domestic product amid escalating concern about the toll economic growth has taken on the environment, reported the Financial Times. "It is virtually impossible to calculate accurately a figure for GDP adjusted for the impact on the environment," said an official from the National Bureau of Statistics. Beijing is concerned that increasing environmental destruction is not being received well by the citizenry. Leaders requested that statisticians come up with an index of economic growth in terms of impact on the environment three years ago, to help assess the performance of politicians at a local level. The latest five-year plan, released in March, calls for balanced growth, rather than pursuing expansion at any cost.
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