Press conference: Pursuing green development

Speakers:

Li Ganjie, secretary of the Leading Party Members Group and minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection

Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs

Chair:

Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the 19th National Congress of the CPC and deputy director of the State Council Information Office

Date:

Oct. 23, 2017

Guo Weimin:

Ladies, gentlemen, friends from the media. Good afternoon. Welcome to the sixth in the series of press conferences held at the Press Center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Present here are Mr. Li Ganjie, secretary of the Leading Party Members Group and the minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and Mr. Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs. They will introduce the work being undertaken on green development and in building a beautiful China.

Li Ganjie:

It's a great honor for me to be a delegate to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which gave me the chance to listen to General Secretary Xi Jinping's report. The report thoroughly presented an overall plan for work on ecological civilization and ecological and environmental protection. It is very encouraging. Taking this opportunity, I'd like to provide a brief introduction with our work in this regard.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken a series of fundamental, insightful and innovative measures to promote historic, fundamental and overall shifts in the understanding and practice of ecological and environmental protection. Much headway has been made with the best development of ecological civilization as deeper understanding has been achieved of the issue. The efforts that have been made in this field are greater than ever, the measures taken are more solid than ever, and the advancement of various programs is faster than ever.

Generally, we have made unparalleled achievements in five aspects.

First, there is deeper understanding of the requirements of ecological civilization. All Party members and all Chinese people have become more willing to, and more active in carrying out the philosophy of green development. The previous indifferent attitude has changed notably.

Second, the efforts made in pollution treatment have been greater than ever. We have started the fight against pollution by launching three special action plans, each containing 10 articles, to prevent and control airborne, water and soil pollution. Infrastructure construction for sewage and waste treatment and for other environmental purposes has gathered pace. Coal-fired power generators with a total capacity of 570 million kw have been upgraded to achieve ultra-low emissions. Approximately 18 million old or high-emission vehicles have been taken off the roads. The rural environment has been improved comprehensively. More than 110,000 villages underwent pollution treatment, benefiting nearly 200 million rural residents. Smooth progress has also been made in the implementation of major ecological conservation and restoration projects.

Third, regulations have been enacted more frequently than before. The Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform has approved more than 40 special reform plans on ecological civilization and ecological and environmental protection. Combined, they play a significant role in promoting green development and improving the environment.

Fourth, supervision and law enforcement have become stricter than ever before. Several laws have been formulated or revised. They include the Environmental Protection Law, the Law on Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, the Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the Environmental Protection Tax Law and the Nuclear Safety Law. The draft Law on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution is now under examination by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The new Environmental Protection Law, which was approved in 2014 and enacted in 2015, together with new rules and regulations, are playing a positive role in ensuring enterprises closely observe the law.

Fifth, our environment has improved faster than ever. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region and Pearl River Delta region, the concentration of PM2.5, or hazardous fine particle matter, dropped more than 30 percent in 2016, as compared to the level in 2013, the year when the Action Plan on Air Pollution Prevention and Control was launched. The proportion of areas affected by acid rain nationally dropped to 7.2 percent from the historical high of over 30 percent in the 1990s. And the drop was not only seen in terms of area, but also in intensity. In regard to water quality, 67.8 percent of surface water of sections under national monitoring reached the level of grade I to III. The coverage rate of forest also increased to 22 percent from 16.6 percent at the beginning of this century.

Besides tackling domestic problems, we have also played an active role in global environment governance. So far, we have approved participation in more than 30 multilateral conventions and protocols concerning ecological and environmental protection. In terms of international cooperation to respond to climate change, China has become an important participant, contributor, and torchbearer in the global endeavor for ecological civilization.

In the next stage, we will fully carry out the guiding principles of the 19th CPC National Congress, especially the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will continue to adhere to the people-oriented development philosophy, and maintain a strong commitment to socialist ecological civilization. We will vigorously promote the progress of ecological civilization and ecological and environmental protection, and meet people's growing demand for a beautiful environment.

First, we will be dedicated to maintaining political integrity, thinking in terms of the big picture, following the leadership core, and staying aligned with the central Party leadership, thus assuming our political responsibility in the development of ecological civilization. Second, we will seek to develop eco-friendly growth models and ways of life, and restore the serenity, harmony and beauty of nature. Third, we will focus on prominent environment problems, such as air, water and soil pollution, and promote continuous improvement of the environment. Fourth, we will work to protect and restore the ecological system, and increase the supply of high-quality ecological goods. Fifth, we will attach great importance to the reform of the system for developing an ecological civilization, and optimize the environmental administration. Thank you. 

Guo Weimin:

Now, let's welcome Mr. Yang Weimin to give a briefing.

Yang Weimin:

Good afternoon. I'd like to give an introduction to the institutional reform for ecological civilization and our achievements over the past five years.

China has achieved fast economic growth through reform and opening up, but the ecological environment had become a weak point impeding national development and public wellbeing. Ecological environment improvement calls not only for more efforts, but, even more importantly, a reform of the system. Thus, this reform has been given top priority by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core since the 18th CPC National Congress, as a comprehensive reform process has developed. Of the 38 meetings convened by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, 20 discussed such reforms, and created 48 specific measures. The third, fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the 18th CPC Central Committee set 37 tasks for reform, among which 24 have been completed, nine are partly finished, and four are now underway. These sessions issued 84 important documents on deepening the overall reform process.

In consideration of the lack of top-level planning for ecological civilization institutions, and progress in this regard lagging behind economic structural reform, in 2015, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council formulated the Integrated Reform Plan for Promoting Ecological Progress. The Plan establishes the framework of ecological civilization with "multiple pillars" and outlines eight systems that need to be established or improved. The Plan has been implemented smoothly so far. Among the 79 reform tasks that were targeted for completion between 2015 and 2017, 73 have been finished and the remaining six basically finished.

Presently, work to create the institutions and systems related to ecological civilization is being accelerated in following aspects. We have advanced reform of the property rights for natural resource assets, improved the system for the development and protection of territorial space, launched trial reforms of the spatial planning system, improved the system for total consumption regulation and comprehensive conservation of resources, promoted the system for payment-based resource use and compensatory conservation and protection efforts, strengthened the environmental governance system, speeded up the establishment of a market system for environmental governance and ecological conservation and developed a comprehensive evaluation and accountability system.

Building ecological civilization represents a profound shift in China's development. Over the past five years since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have launched more reforms, advanced more rapidly, exerted more efforts and accomplished more in this regard than at any time in our history. This indicates that the cause of the Party and the country, as well as the institutions on ecological civilization, are undergoing an historic shift.

The following are some examples showcasing these historic changes.

In the past, there was an undefined ownership of natural resources by the whole people, except for mineral resources. The problem had existed since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core launched reforms on this issue, with the aim of determining rights and establishing a proper governance mechanism. Although it takes a long time to establish a comprehensive natural resource property rights system, we made a good start.

In the past, nearly all places strived for large-scale exploitation and development, aiming to achieve industrialization and urbanization. Actually, that was not in line with natural laws and economic principles. Therefore, we promoted building a functional zoning system, encouraging developments in accordance with the requirements of optimized development, focused development, restricted development and forbidden development. For example, Beijing falls in the category of optimized development. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Beijing should be relieved of functions not essential to its role as the national capital, embark on an intensive development path and explore an optimized mode for development in populous and economically advanced areas. This is actually a restructuring of the city of Beijing and surely a project of historic importance.

In the past, departments in charge of natural resource management all set up their own protection zones. Large in number and in area size, such protection zones lacked oversight. General Secretary Xi presided over the review and approval of the plan on piloting a national park system, including the Sanjiangyuan National Park (123,100 square kilometers), Siberian tiger and Amur leopard habitats (14,600 square kilometers), giant panda habitats (27,100 square kilometers) and Qilian Mountain (50,200 square kilometers). The plan calls for maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the ecological system within these protection zones, with the goals of returning an area of 215,000 square kilometers, or two percent of the country's land area, to nature and its wildlife such as giant pandas, Siberian tigers and Tibetan antelopes, and preserving more green space for future generations to enjoy. This move is unprecedented in China's history.

There was also a long-existing problem of overlapping spatial planning. An area of land might have been planned for different utilities by different departments. Effective land use requires unified and complete spatial planning. General Secretary Xi required combining different types of plans into a single spatial entity, with one plan and one blueprint for any city or county. He presided over the review and approval of plans on provincial-level pilot programs in Hainan and Ningxia. The trial programs showed such practice was totally feasible.

We are committed to the strictest farmland protection system, ensuring that China's farmland remains at or above the red line of 120 million hectares. However, this has resulted in weaker protection on other ecological spaces, as forests, wetlands, grasslands and even oceans were sometimes used for construction. General Secretary Xi said that our mountains, waters, forests, farmlands and lakes form a community of life, which means that if we want to protect the farmland, we must also protect other ecological spaces. Therefore, we have established the system for total consumption regulation covering land, water, energy, natural forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, oceans and mineral resources.

In the past, some places pursued development at the cost of the environment and ecological system. General Secretary Xi said that GDP could not be the only criteria for assessment and we must establish a lifelong accountability system for ecological and environmental damage. With the issuance of a series of institutions, all regions and all government departments have raised their consciousness and initiative to protect ecological environment. This is also a fundamental shift.

There are also many historic changes in environmental governance, which Mr. Li has introduced.

On the basis of the achievements attained since the 18th CPC National Congress, the report to the 19th CPC National Congress called for speeding up reform of the system for developing an ecological civilization and building a beautiful China. The commitment revealed the will and determination of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core to strengthen ecological conservation. During the process of securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and embarking on a journey to fully build a modern socialist China, we must take tough steps to prevent and control pollution, shore up weak points in the ecological environment and provide more quality ecological goods to satisfy the people's ever-growing needs for a beautiful China. In this way, we will make China a country with more blue skies, clearer water and greener hills, and realize harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. Thank you.