Special Feature: Contributing China's Strength to Global Ecological Protection Green | China | Ecology

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 18th (Xinhua) - Special Release: Contributing China's Strength to Global Ecological Protection

Xinhua News Agency reporter

"I admire China's unwavering efforts to promote ecological civilization construction," said John Cobb Jr., a member of the National Academy of Humanities of the United States, in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency.

In the past decade, China has achieved remarkable achievements in ecological civilization construction and green development. Officials and experts from multiple countries believe that China has contributed to global ecological protection and provided useful experience for other countries. All parties are looking forward to strengthening green technology cooperation with China.

"Achievements that attract worldwide attention"

"China's achievements in ecological civilization construction have attracted worldwide attention," Robert Frank, editor in chief of the Croatian newspaper "The Voice of Istria", said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.

The transformation of rural butterfly, the transformation of Saihanba sandy land into forest and sea, the restoration of Cangshan and Erhai, the restoration of the clear flow of the Jiuqu Yellow River, and the significant increase in the number of rare birds and animals such as Crested Ibis and Asian elephants in Zhejiang Province have witnessed the construction of ecological civilization in China.

"The China that I have witnessed with my own eyes is completely different from the reports of Western media. The Chinese people cherish the environment, and a good environment gives back to the people. The improvement of the environment enables people to live a happy life." Michia Monjo, a full-time national member of the South African Communist Youth League, exclaimed after a recent on-site visit to rural China.

Taking the lead in proposing and implementing the ecological protection red line system, promoting the construction of the world's largest national park system, with the world's largest increase in forest resources and the largest artificial afforestation area, the fastest improvement rate of air quality, achieving zero growth in land degradation worldwide, and the largest number of "international wetland cities" selected globally... These facts bear witness to China's high attention and sustained efforts in ecological environment protection.

Yoyaf Yair, Dean of the School of Sustainable Development at Israel's Rahman University, has been closely monitoring China's efforts in ecological and environmental protection in recent years. He believes that China has achieved remarkable results in reducing the average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 in cities, which have attracted worldwide attention. Due to China's strict control over the emission of sulfur-containing substances, the situation of acid rain has also significantly improved. "Its significance is extraordinary because acid rain can have adverse effects on forests, plants, and soil."

Irina Grazilina, Chief Researcher of the Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology and Low Temperature at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stated that the institute has long been concerned about the economic development of neighboring regions between Russia and China under the concept of green growth. The research results indicate that the Northeast region of China has achieved remarkable results in reducing sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.

"China's participation and contribution are extremely important"

From the successful holding of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands, to promoting the establishment of a global clean energy partnership, launching 100 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, to jointly launching the "the Belt and Road" green development partnership initiative with dozens of countries, China has always actively participated in international environmental protection and governance, carried out green bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and contributed China's strength and China's programs to global sustainable development.

At the recently held 2023 Guiyang International Forum on Ecological Civilization, Senior Advisor of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in China, Hauibao Tamash, said, "When we discuss climate change and how to address its challenges, China's participation and contribution are extremely important."

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in a video speech at the forum that if more countries can learn from China's ecological civilization construction, it will have a positive impact on the sustainable development of all humanity.

From the photovoltaic power plant in Garissa County, Kenya, to the De'a wind power project in De'a Town, Cape Province, South Africa; From Friendship Square in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to new energy vehicles on the streets of many Latin American countries... With the help of Chinese companies, a number of clean energy and green development projects have been implemented in multiple developing countries, becoming a new landscape in the local area.

Frank said that China's adherence to the path of green and sustainable development not only contributes to the green recovery of the world economy, but also sets an example for other countries in the world.

Yair believes that as the world's second-largest economy, any action taken by China will have a significant impact on a global scale. China is accelerating its transition to a low-carbon economy, especially in the fields of energy and agriculture.

"Chinese experience is the wealth of all humanity"

Technology is a powerful tool for solving ecological and environmental problems, providing important support for ecological and environmental protection. In the process of building an ecological civilization, China has brought about a dual harvest of ecology and economy through the power of technology.

Eric Solheim, former Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the Environment Programme, has visited China multiple times for research purposes. According to his observation, Chinese enterprises are expected to become the leading force in the world's energy industry, and thus play a positive role in global ecological environment governance.

In the past decade, China has consistently ranked first in the world in terms of installed capacity of renewable energy, represented by hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic power generation. According to the White Paper on China's Green Development in the New Era, from 2011 to 2020, the total number of environmental technology invention patent applications in China reached nearly 60% of the world, making it the country with the most active layout in environmental technology innovation globally.

At present, China is committed to gradually shifting from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions, and accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Climate change and green development have become important areas for China to engage in practical cooperation with international partners, especially developing countries.

Turyong Larsen, Executive Director of the Norwegian Institute of Water Research, who has been cooperating with Chinese research partners for many years, said that China is at the forefront of green development in renewable energy, various environmental technologies, and other fields. He hopes that China can carry out more international cooperation in related fields.

Renowned Spanish expert on China, Julio Rios, believes that China's tremendous contribution to global development is not only reflected in its own leapfrog development, but also in sharing development experience with other countries and assuming global responsibilities. "China's development experience has become a common wealth for all mankind, and is particularly important for countries in the southern world."