China.org.cn | August 16, 2023
Speaker:
Mr. Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment
Chairperson:
Ms. Xing Huina, deputy director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO
Date:
July 27, 2023
Xing Huina:
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). This is the 21st briefing in the series "Embarking on the New Journey - A Government Perspective." Today, we have invited Mr. Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, to brief you on strengthening eco-environment protection for a Beautiful China, and to take your questions.
Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Huang Runqiu for an introduction.
Huang Runqiu:
Thank you, Ms. Xing. Friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I'm very glad to meet you here. On behalf of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), I like to begin every press conference by expressing gratitude to friends from the media and today is no exception. You have supported ecological conservation and eco-environment protection over the years. Thank you for your hard work. This morning, I'll brief you on strengthening eco-environment protection for a Beautiful China.
Protecting the eco-environment will benefit generations to come. On July 17 and 18, after five years, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection again in Beijing. General Secretary Xi Jinping attended the conference and delivered an important speech, demonstrating that the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always paid high attention to eco-environment protection and ecological conservation. This conference is of great importance. It took place in the first year when we fully implemented the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and at a critical time as China embarked on a new journey to build itself into a modern socialist country. It can be said that it is a new important milestone in the field of ecological conservation.
The conference has explored new ways of developing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, provided well-conceived answers to a series of important theoretical and practical questions on ecological conservation on the new journey of the new era, and systematically outlined major tasks and strategic measures for comprehensively building a Beautiful China. It has again declared to the world China's firm determination to pursue a model of sound development featuring improved production, higher living standards and healthy ecosystems.
General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the conference represents a new interpretation and development of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, and serves as a program of action and sound guideline as the Party comprehensively advances the building of a Beautiful China on the new journey of the new era. The main contents of the speech can be summarized as four major transformations, five major relationships, six major tasks and one major requirement.
The four major transformations fully sum up the remarkable ecological conservation achievements secured in the new era. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, significant transformations from remediation of major areas to systematic governance, from passively responding to ecological issues to taking proactive actions to address them, from a participant to a leader in global environmental governance, and from practical-exploration-based conservation to the one with theoretical guidance have been secured in ecological conservation. The achievements are impressive and have become a significant symbol of the historic achievements and changes the Party and the country have made in pursuit of its cause. These accomplishments have been made under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and in turn, have enriched and improved the Thought, which has fully reflected the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
The five major relationships signify that the Party's understanding of the laws regarding ecological conservation has been further deepened and improved. A new stage and new situation call for the fulfilment of new tasks. In order to continue to advance ecological conservation, we must properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling key challenges and coordinated governance, between natural rehabilitation and artificial restoration, between external pressure and internal motivating power, and between the dual carbon reduction goals and our independent decisions. The five major relationships are both summaries of practical experience and theoretical generalizations, containing rich values and methodologies and full of profound philosophical thinking, as well as providing a powerful ideological tool for promoting the country's modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature through the building of a Beautiful China.
The six major tasks are comprehensive strategic deployments to conserve the ecology and build a Beautiful China. The next five years are critical to building a Beautiful China. We will go deep in a bid to prevent and control pollution, accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of our development mode, make efforts to improve the diversity, stability and sustainability of the ecosystem, actively and steadily promote carbon emissions peaking and carbon neutrality, hold the security bottom line of building a Beautiful China, and improve the support system for building a Beautiful China. These six major tasks are significant strategic arrangements made to implement the major strategic deployments of the 20th CPC National Congress and aim to achieve the building of a Beautiful China by 2035 and related goals in the next five years.
The one major requirement is to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership in the field of ecological conservation. The previous practices have shown that the Party's leadership is the fundamental guarantee for making greater progress in eco-environment protection and ecological conservation. Facing the new situations, issues and challenges regarding the ecological conservation on the new journey, we must continue to enhance the Party's overall leadership and firmly shoulder the political responsibility in this regard.
Friends from the media, as the country's economic and social progress has entered a phase of ever-accelerating green and low-carbon high-quality development, ecological conservation is still under multiple pressures and has a lot of difficulties to overcome. The eco-environment departments will take studying, publicizing and implementing the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the guiding principles of the conference as a major political task. We will further gain a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. We will also uphold Comrade Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and uphold the Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership, firmly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, and open a new chapter in eco-environment protection on the new journey to build China into a great country and to achieve national rejuvenation.
That's all for my introduction. Thank you.
Xing Huina:
Thank you, Mr. Huang. The floor is now open to questions. Please identify the media organization you represent before asking questions.
