SHANGHAI: The rococo-styled Shanghai Concert Hall is known for its great acoustics and renovation work completed a year ago. This raised the structure by 3.38 metres and moved it 66 metres to the southeast.

But on Friday morning the 76-year-old hall was packed with an audience that was not listening to a symphony orchestra or a violin solo.

Jim Clancy, an anchor for US news broadcaster CNN, was conducting a discussion by a panel of distinguished environmental experts.

These included personalities such as Jim Harkness, former director of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, and Liao Xiaoyi of the Global Village in Beijing.

They were debating how to balance China's double-digit economic growth and the environmental challenges this has presented.

Entitled "Price of Progress," it was an hour-long show that will be part of a week-long series of programming on CNN.

"The environment issue is not just a China problem, but a global problem as well," said Debra Kocher, vice-president of CNN International.

President Hu Jintao started to examine the environmental cost of China's economic growth after taking office, added Jill Dougherty, managing editor of CNN International Asia Pacific.

Kocher said she was pleased with the morning discussion, but she admitted the language barrier had held it back a little. "It would have been a bit more lively if it had been in people's native tongue," she said.

CNN broadcast its first "Eye On China" series last May, focusing on Beijing and coinciding with the Fortune Global Forum held in the Chinese capital.

With a theme of "China's Rise," it focused mostly on the country's growth.

This new series will concentrate on Shanghai.

"That (the previous theme) was a huge topic and this time we want to narrow it down a little bit," said Kocher.

Speaking on what is her first visit to Shanghai, Kocher said the world was fascinated with China.

"We like the idea of exploring the country and region in depth."

CNN assembled a 20-strong team in Shanghai for the environmental debate, to be aired from Sunday. There will also be other broadcasts.

From Monday to Friday, anchor Kristie Lu Stout will report live from locations around Shanghai, such as the Bund, for CNN's prime-time morning news programme "CNN Today."

In addition, Lu Stout and her colleagues Stan Grant, Mike Chinoy and Tara Duffy will bring a number of reports charting contemporary China in all its fascinating complexity.

Topics will cover a wide range of issues such as Shanghai's rise as a new business Mecca, preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, environmental challenges, the rise of the blogger, a look at China's new sexual revolution and Shanghai food.

During the week, two Chinese celebrities Jack Ma, CEO of web portal Alibaba and Liu Xiang, the Olympic gold-medal-winning hurdler will appear on CNN's "Talk Asia" programme.

Kocher said CNN had received good support from the Shanghai government.

Source: China Daily