------ Pan Yue, dann Stellvertretender Direktor des State Environmental Protection Administration, spricht während ein Wirtschaftsforum in Peking am 6. Dezember 200
--FILE--Pan Yue, then Deputy Director of the State Environmental Protection Administration, speaks during an economic forum in Beijing, 6 December 2006. Pan Yue, a high-profile official with a history of taking on big state-owned interests, has emerged as the front-runner to become environment minister, amid growing discontent over worsening pollution. Pan, a former journalist, is tipped to take over from career bureaucrat Zhou Shengxian when premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang forms his new cabinet during the annual session of parliament that opens Tuesday (5 March 2013). A recommended list (of cabinet ministers) lists Pan Yue as the environmental protection minister. But this is not final and could change at the last minute, a source with ties to the leadership said. With China desperate to show it is determined to tackle pollution, the appointment of the popular Pan would help build confidence in the countrys environmental protection bodies and their ability to rein in powerful industrial interests.
