China.org.cn | October 23, 2020
China Media Group:
Mr. Zhao, just now you said that the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020) saw the greatest and most effective environmental improvements. What are the specific achievements? What problems does China still have in matters of ecological environment protection during this period? What better arrangements can be worked out for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025)? Thank you.
Zhao Yingmin:
Thank you for your question. This is a very general question. I will give you a brief introduction.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, all localities and departments have fully implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We can say that great progress has been made in all aspects of ecological environment protection. The environmental improvement has really benefitted the Chinese people. Critical advances have also been made in other key areas of ecological protection, giving our people a far stronger sense of gain, security and happiness. The accomplishments during the 13th Five-Year Plan period can be summed up in several aspects.
First, strategic arrangements have been strengthened, and the whole society is more aware of the importance of ecological environment protection. Building an ecological civilization is vital to sustain the Chinese nation's development. The statement that "we should fully understand that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" was added to the Party Constitution, and the term "ecological civilization" was written into the Constitution. More and more localities are promoting ecological progress as an opportunity and a key driver, striving to set themselves on a path that will achieve both economic development and environmental protection. Enterprises have taken measures to prevent and control pollution and discharge pollutants in accordance with the law. Their awareness of environmental protection laws and their leading role in environmental protection are being fostered at a faster pace. The whole society is more conscious of protecting the environment and is participating in and contributing to environmental conservation.
Second, the battle against pollution has progressed smoothly, and efforts to improve the environment have been intensified. Action plans for the prevention and control of air, water and soil pollution have been fully implemented. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have published a guideline to comprehensively enhance ecological environment protection and win the battle against pollution of air, water and soil. A three-year action plan has been issued to win the battle for blue skies, together with other targeted action plans. The seven landmark battles (the battles for blue skies, diesel truck pollution treatment, water source protection, black and malodorous water bodies treatment, the Yangtze River conservation and restoration, comprehensive treatment of pollution in the Bohai Sea, as well as pollution treatment in agriculture and rural areas) have gone smoothly. The ecological environment has been continuously improved, giving a strong boost to high-quality development. Just now, I have given a briefing on the improvement of environmental quality during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.
Third, the continuous enhancement of ecological environment protection has given a strong push to high-quality economic development. Energy conservation has been strengthened to increase energy efficiency. Major adjustments have been made to the energy mix to promote green and low-carbon development. As of 2019 during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP had dropped by a cumulative 18.2%; the installed capacity of the coal-fired power generators with ultra-low emissions nationwide had reached 890 million kilowatts, accounting for 86% of the total; the world's largest clean coal power supply system with ultra-low emissions had been established; our installed capacity and power generation of photovoltaic and wind power leads the world; clean energy had made up 23.4% of the country's total energy consumption; the coal ports in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region had shifted their transportation channels from highways to railways; the railway cargo volume nationwide had increased by 7.2% year-on-year. We have strengthened the ecological red lines, environmental quality bottom lines, resources utilization ceilings, and the strict constraints of the negative list of ecological environmental standards for market access to improve the industrial layout and structure. By vigorously rectifying small, poorly-managed and heavily-polluting enterprises, the problem of the bad driving out the good in the market has been solved, creating a more level playing field for law-abiding enterprises. By gradually tightening pollutant discharge standards, industrial technology has been upgraded and the green development of enterprises has been promoted.
Fourth, a top-level planning system for ecological advancement has been established, which has promoted the fostering of a "general environment" for ecological protection. The systems, including the central inspection system for ecological and environmental protection, have delivered real results. The mechanism, by which both the CPC committees and governments are held accountable for environmental issues and that officials take responsibility for environmental protection in performing their duties, has been greatly strengthened. A number of systems, including pollution discharge permit, comprehensive administrative law enforcement for ecological environment protection, as well as compensation and accountability for ecological environment damages, have been formed. The reforms of examining and assessing ecological progress, river and lake chief systems and the vertical management of environmental monitoring, inspection and law enforcement functions in ecological and environmental departments below the provincial level have been accelerated.
Fifth, China plays an active role in global environmental governance, providing our wisdom, concepts and solutions to the world. China was one of the first countries to release a National Plan on Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We have deposited the instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the United Nations and made contributions to the adoption of the agreement's implementation guidelines. We have reached the 2020 carbon dioxide emissions target ahead of time, and announced that we will scale up our nationally determined contributions, strive to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. China was among the first to sign and authorize the Convention on Biological Diversity. We actively prepared and organized the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and jointly carried out the International Coalition for Green Development on the Belt and Road. The total amount of ozone-depleting substances eliminated by China accounts for over 50% of the total amount eliminated by developing countries. Hence, we are the country with the largest contribution to protecting the global ozone layer. Furthermore, during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, many projects, including the Saihanba Afforestation Community, the Zhejiang Green Rural Revival Program and Alipay Ant Forest, have been awarded the UN's Champions of the Earth award.
As we have seen improvements to ecological environment and realized achievements of the 13th Five-Year Plan, we can clearly notice that there is still a gap between the current ecological environment and people's expectations. There is also a gap between the current status and the requirements for building a beautiful China. The domestic ecological environment still faces severe challenges. The pressures of ecological environment protection from many aspects, including structures, origins and trends, have been generally at a high level. The most prominent ones are the "three unchanged aspects." First, no fundamental changes have been made to industrial structures dominated by heavy chemicals, energy consumption which is reliant on coal, and transportation which is dominated by roads. Second, there were no fundamental changes in the serious conditions of environmental pollution and ecological environment protection. Third, the high-risk status and high frequency of ecological environmental incidents also remains fundamentally unchanged. The current international situation is undergoing complex and profound changes, risks and challenges have been gradually increasing, and unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. Therefore, the work to protect the environment still has a long way to go.
Next, we will designate accomplishing the 13th Five-Year Plan as an important task, especially in terms of completing pollution control and prevention work. We will summarize the successful experiences and methods of preventing and controlling pollution. According to the goals outlined during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to "achieve a fundamental improvement in the ecological environment and basically attain the goal of building a beautiful China by 2035," we should adhere to the orientation of green development and promote the green development transformation. This is also in line with the spirit of the upcoming Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the requirements of the 14th Five-Year Plan which will be reviewed by the National People's Congress. We should maintain a high-level of ecological environmental protection while promoting high-quality socioeconomic development. We should enhance the endogenous driving force for improving the quality of the ecological environment and adhere to the orientation of the goals and the results. With improving the quality of the ecological environment as the core, we must put equal emphasis on ecological protection and environmental governance, and we also need to coordinate efforts to control air pollution and respond to climate change. In terms of environmental protection, we will strengthen reform, innovation and basic capabilities, and set scientific goals, targets and key tasks in the 14th Five-Year Plan. We will do our best to accomplish the work next year and make a good start toward achieving the second centenary goal. Thank you.