Forge ahead on the road to a strong country and stride forward on a new journey | Continuously write new green miracles - A review of the achievements of ecological environment protection in the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China Institutional system | Ecological civilization | Review

Beijing, September 18 (Xinhua) -- Continuously writing new green miracles -- a review of achievements in ecological and environmental protection since the founding of New China 75 years ago

Over the past 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, my country has continuously deepened its understanding of the laws of ecological civilization construction and promoted the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has regarded ecological civilization construction as a fundamental plan related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and has planned and carried out a series of fundamental, pioneering and long-term work. my country's ecological civilization path has become more and more determined and broader, and it has continuously written new green miracles on the land of China.

This summer, on the banks of the Cangtou River in Youyu County, Shanxi Province, the more than 30 acres of collective forest land in Hongqikou Village are shaded by green trees. Tourists who come to camp set up tents and enjoy the beauty of the green ecology.

In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the forest greening rate of Youyu County, located on the edge of the Maowusu Desert, was less than 0.3%, and the people suffered from the wind and sand. Over the past 70 years, the cadres and people of Youyu County have continued to plant trees, and the forest greening rate has increased to 57%, turning the "barren land" into an "oasis on the frontier". The former sandy land has not only planted patches of green shade, but also "planted" a good life for the local people.

In Tongliao, Inner Mongolia, the Horqin Desert is gradually turning green. Photo by reporter Lian Zhen

At the beginning of the founding of New China, the national forest coverage rate was only 8.6%, and sandstorms, soil erosion and other problems affected people's production and life. In the 1950s, the Party and the State attached great importance to greening construction and called for "greening the motherland."

In 1978, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council made a strategic decision to build large-scale shelterbelts in key areas of wind and sand hazards and soil erosion in Northwest, North China and Northeast China. The project was carried out in three phases and eight stages over a period of 73 years, with the goal of building a green Great Wall stretching thousands of miles in the north of the motherland.

Over 40 years, the "Three Norths" project area has completed afforestation of 480 million mu, rehabilitated 1.28 billion mu of degraded grassland, and increased the forest coverage rate from 5.05% in 1978 to 13.84%. The key control areas have achieved a historic transformation from "sand advancing and people retreating" to "green advancing and sand retreating".

At the same time, natural forest protection projects and projects such as returning farmland to forest and grassland have made barren mountains covered with beautiful scenery and deserts turned into oases.

Today, my country has taken the lead in achieving "zero growth" in land degradation and "double reduction" in the area of ​​desertified land and sandy land in the world. my country's forest coverage rate has increased to 24.02%, making it the main force in the world's "greening".

Over the past 75 years, the relationship between man and nature has been constantly reshaped, and hundreds of millions of people have worked tirelessly to build a home with beautiful mountains and rivers.

To make it easier for children to study nature during the summer vacation, the Dinghushan National Nature Reserve in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province has set up a nature education experience trail with the theme of "Little Scientists' Growth Path" and a nature education exploration trail with the theme of "Natural Forest" this year, allowing children to get closer to nature and understand nature.

This reserve was established in 1956 and is the first nature reserve in my country. It preserves large tracts of virgin forest and protects biodiversity.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, my country has gradually established nearly 10,000 nature reserves of various levels and types, including nature reserves, forest parks, scenic spots, natural heritage sites, geological parks, and marine parks.

Entering the new era, my country has continued to promote the protection and restoration of ecosystems, implemented 52 integrated protection and restoration projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts, carried out national afforestation actions in a solid manner, promoted the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River, and promoted the protection and restoration of typical marine ecosystems.

Promoting the construction of a natural conservation area system with national parks as the main body is an important deployment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core. The establishment of a national park system was first proposed at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2013. Now my country is building the world's largest national park system.

At present, 90% of my country's terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of national key protected wild animal and plant populations are effectively protected, people and nature live in harmony, and the motherland's ecological security barrier is constantly being strengthened.

September 7 is the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. In today's capital, Beijing, people have discovered that they can get "beautiful blue" and "comic cloud" by just taking a photo.

In recent years, my country's achievements in improving air quality have been highly recognized by the international community. In particular, Beijing's air quality control has achieved remarkable results, which was praised by the United Nations Environment Programme as the "Beijing Miracle".

Looking back, my country's environmental protection cause began to take shape after the founding of the People's Republic of China and officially kicked off in the 1970s. In 1973, the State Council held the first National Environmental Protection Conference, and ecological environmental protection began to be placed on the national important agenda.

Reform and opening up have stimulated development vitality, but while my country's rapid economic development has achieved tremendous achievements, it has also accumulated a large number of ecological and environmental problems, which have become a threat to people's livelihood and a pain in the hearts of the people for a period of time.

From establishing environmental protection as a basic national policy, to implementing a sustainable development strategy, to building a resource-saving and environmentally friendly society, the strategic position of ecological environmental protection has been continuously enhanced. In response to ecological environmental challenges, the country has invested a lot of money and scientific research efforts, focusing on the treatment of the three major lakes of Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake, and Dianchi Lake, and vigorously treating pollution problems such as acid rain.

On August 12, 2024, the weather in Beijing was fine, and tourists took photos of Beihai Park in the distance from Jingshan. Photo by reporter Li Xin

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has led hundreds of millions of people to declare war on pollution.

In 2013, the "Ten Measures for Air Pollution Control" - the "Air Pollution Control Action Plan" was released. China became the first developing country in the world to carry out large-scale PM2.5 control.

In cities, buses no longer have "black tails" and new energy vehicles are running faster; in rural areas, tens of millions of families in northern China have bid farewell to coal heating and are using cleaner heating methods; in factories, ultra-low emission transformation has made coal-fired power plants cleaner, building the world's largest clean coal-fired power generation base...

After continuous efforts, there will be 203 cities in China that meet the air quality standards in 2023, accounting for about 60%. Blue sky and white clouds have become the norm, and my country has become the country with the fastest air quality improvement in the world.

In 2022, the total investment in environmental pollution control in the country reached 901.4 billion yuan, while in the early 1980s it was only 2.5 billion to 3 billion yuan per year.

The appearance of rivers and lakes has been fundamentally improved, and the proportion of sections with good surface water quality has approached the level of developed countries. In 2023, the water quality of the Yangtze River mainstream will remain Class II for four consecutive years, and the water quality of the Yellow River mainstream will remain Class II for two consecutive years.

Soil environmental risks are effectively controlled, and our homes are healthier and better. We will promote the classification of domestic waste, improve the centralized collection and treatment capacity of urban and rural domestic waste, reduce the use of fertilizers and pesticides, and achieve the goal of "zero import" of solid waste as scheduled.

The sky is bluer, the water is clearer, the land is cleaner, the quality of the ecological environment continues to improve, and the people's sense of gain, happiness and security continues to increase.

The policy and system system for ecological and environmental protection is constantly improving

On September 10 this year, the draft National Park Law was submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for deliberation for the first time. This is the first time that my country has enacted legislation specifically for national parks at the national level.

The legal system is an important force in protecting green mountains and clear waters. After decades of exploration, the legal system of ecological environment protection with Chinese characteristics and the institutional system of the "four beams and eight pillars" of ecological civilization have basically taken shape.

From the first time that "the state protects the environment and natural resources, and prevents pollution and other public hazards" was written into the Constitution in 1978, to the passage of the Environmental Protection Law in 1989, ecological environmental protection work has gradually entered the track of the rule of law.

Entering the 21st century, the country has promulgated a series of environmental protection laws, natural resources laws, environmental protection administrative regulations, environmental protection department regulations and normative documents, local environmental regulations and local government regulations, etc.

In 2023, staff from the Xinqiao Community River Chief Studio in Jinniu District, Chengdu, Sichuan, patrolled the Fuhe River. Photo by reporter Jiang Hongjing

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has required the use of the strictest systems and the most stringent rule of law to protect the ecological environment, and the ecological environmental protection policy and system system has been continuously improved.

The Environmental Protection Law and more than 30 ecological and environmental laws and regulations have been formulated and revised. In particular, the Environmental Protection Law revised in 2014 introduced measures such as daily continuous fines, seizure and detention, production restrictions and suspensions, administrative detention, and public interest litigation, and was rated as the "strictest" environmental protection law in history. Today, the ecological and environmental protection legal system has covered the fields of pollution prevention and control of air, water, soil, noise, and other important ecosystems and elements such as the Yangtze River, wetlands, and black soil, and the ecological and environmental legal system has been improved.

The "Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization", the "Overall Plan for the Reform of the Ecological Civilization System" and dozens of specific reform plans were issued and implemented, and basic systems such as the natural resource asset property rights system, the land space development and protection system, the spatial planning system, the total resource management and comprehensive conservation system, the paid use of resources and ecological compensation system, the environmental governance system, the environmental governance and ecological protection market system, and the ecological civilization performance evaluation and accountability system were gradually established. The institutional system of the "four pillars" of ecological civilization has basically taken shape.

We must firmly grasp the "bull's nose" of the responsibility system, establish and implement systems such as the evaluation and assessment of ecological civilization construction goals, assessment of the effectiveness of the pollution prevention and control campaign, the exit audit of natural resource assets of leading cadres, the river and lake chief system, the forest chief system, lifelong accountability for ecological environmental damage, and compensation for ecological environmental damage. The responsibility system led by the Party committee, dominated by the government, and jointly participated by enterprises, social organizations and the public has become more rigorous and sound, and the awareness and initiative of the whole party and the whole country in promoting ecological civilization construction has been continuously enhanced.

If people don't fail the green mountains, the green mountains will not fail people. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made important arrangements for deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, we will anchor the goal of building a beautiful China, persevere and work hard for a long time, and we will surely write a new green miracle.