Striving for a Powerful Country, Striding for a New Journey and Writing a New green mile —— A Summary of the Achievements of Ecological Environmental Protection in the 75th Anniversary of the Founding
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 18th Title: Keep writing new green mile — — Summary of achievements in ecological environment protection in the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Jing
Since the founding of New China 75 years ago, China has continuously deepened its understanding of the regularity of ecological civilization construction and promoted the harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core regards the construction of ecological civilization as a fundamental plan related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, and plans to carry out a series of fundamental, pioneering and long-term work. The road of ecological civilization in China has become more and more determined and wider, and new green mile has been constantly written on the land of China.
Build up the ecological security barrier of the motherland
This summer, more than 30 acres of collective forest land in Hongqikou Village, along the Cangtou River in Youyu County, Shanxi Province, were shaded by trees. Visitors who came to camp set up tents and enjoyed the beauty of green ecology.
In the early days of the founding of New China, the afforestation rate of trees in Youyu County, which is located at the edge of Mu Us Desert, was less than 0.3%, and the people suffered from sandstorms. For more than 70 years, the cadres and masses in Youyu County have been planting trees continuously, and the greening rate of trees has increased to 57%, turning the "barren land" into an "oasis". In the past, the sandy land not only planted a piece of green shade, but also "planted" a good day for the local people.
In Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia, Horqin Sandy Land is gradually covered with green clothes. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhenshe
At the beginning of the founding of New China, the national forest coverage rate was only 8.6%, and sandstorms and soil erosion affected people’s production and life. In 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 a large-scale shelter forest in the key areas of northwest, north and northeast where sandstorm hazards and soil erosion occurred. It took 73 years to carry out the project in three stages and eight phases, and it was necessary to build a green Great Wall across Wan Li in the north of the motherland.
More than 40 projects in the "Three North" project area have completed afforestation of 480 million mu, and treated 1.28 billion mu of degraded grassland. The forest coverage rate has increased from 5.05% in 1978 to 13.84%, and the key control areas have realized a historic change from "sand entering people and retreating" to "green entering sand retreating".
At the same time, the natural forest protection project, the project of returning farmland to forests and grasslands, etc., have made the barren hills beautiful and the desert an oasis.
Nowadays, China has taken the lead in realizing "zero growth" of land degradation in the world, and "double reduction" of desertified land and desertified land area. China’s forest coverage rate has increased to 24.02%, becoming the main force of "greening" in the world.
Over the past 75 years, the relationship between man and nature has been constantly reshaped, and hundreds of millions of people have made unremitting efforts to build a beautiful home with mountains and rivers.
In order to facilitate children to study nature during the summer vacation, Dinghushan National Nature Reserve in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province has set up a natural education experience trail with the theme of "Little Scientists Growing Up" and a natural education exploration trail with the theme of "Natural Forests" this year, so that children can get closer to and understand nature.
Established in 1956, this nature reserve is the first nature reserve in China, which preserves a large area of virgin forest and protects biodiversity.
Since the founding of New China, China has gradually established nearly 10,000 nature reserves at all levels, including nature reserves, forest parks, scenic spots, natural heritage, geological parks and marine parks.
In the new era, China has continued to promote the protection and restoration of ecosystems, implemented 52 integrated protection and restoration projects of mountains, rivers, fields, lakes, grass and sand, solidly carried out land greening actions, promoted the ten-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, and promoted the protection and restoration of typical marine ecosystems.
Promoting the construction of a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body is an important deployment made by the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core. In 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee first proposed the establishment of a national park system, and now China is building the largest national park system in the world.
At present, 90% of China’s terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of national key protected wildlife populations have been effectively protected, and people live in harmony with nature, and the ecological security barrier of the motherland has been continuously built.
The effectiveness of pollution prevention and control is increasingly evident.
September 7th is International Clean Air Blue Sky Day. In today’s capital, Beijing, people find that they can get "Beauty Blue" and "Comic Cloud" with a tap.
China’s achievements in improving air quality in recent years have been highly affirmed by the international community. In particular, Beijing’s air treatment has achieved remarkable results, and it has been praised as "Beijing Miracle" by the United Nations Environment Programme.
Looking back, China’s environmental protection started after the founding of New China, and officially kicked off in the 1970s. In 1973, the State Council held the first national conference on environmental protection, and ecological environmental protection began to be put on the national agenda.
Reform and opening up have stimulated the vitality of development, but while China’s rapid economic development has made great achievements, it has also accumulated a large number of ecological and environmental problems, which have become a pain for people’s livelihood and people’s hearts for a period of time.
From the establishment of environmental protection as the basic national policy, to the implementation of sustainable development strategy, and then to the construction of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, the strategic position of ecological environmental protection has been continuously improved. In response to the challenge of ecological environment, the state has invested a lot of money and scientific research strength to focus on the treatment of Taihu Lake, Chaohu Lake and Dianchi Lake, and vigorously control pollution problems such as acid rain.
On August 12, 2024, the weather in Beijing was fine, and tourists photographed Beihai Park in the distance from Jingshan. Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin photo
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has led hundreds of millions of people to declare war on pollution.
In 2013, "Ten Atmospheric Articles" — — The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was issued. China became the first developing country in the world to carry out large-scale PM2.5 governance.
In cities, buses are no longer dragging "black tails", and new energy vehicles are speeding up; In rural areas, tens of millions of families in the northern region bid farewell to loose coal heating and use cleaner heating methods; In the factory, ultra-low emission transformation makes coal-fired power plants cleaner and builds the world’s largest clean coal-fired power generation base … …
After continuous efforts, there were 203 cities with air quality standards nationwide in 2023, accounting for about 60%. Blue sky and white clouds have become the norm, and China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality in the world.
In 2022, the total investment in environmental pollution control in China reached 901.4 billion yuan, compared with only 2.5 billion to 3 billion yuan per year in the early 1980s.
The landscape of rivers and lakes has been fundamentally improved, and the proportion of excellent surface water quality sections has approached the level of developed countries. In 2023, the main stream of the Yangtze River and the main stream of the Yellow River maintained Grade II water quality for four consecutive years.
Soil environmental risks are effectively controlled, and homes are healthier and better. Promote the classification of domestic waste, improve the centralized collection and treatment capacity of urban and rural domestic waste, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and achieve the goal of "zero import" of solid waste as scheduled.
The sky is bluer, the water is clearer, the ground is cleaner, the quality of the ecological environment continues to improve, and the people’s sense of gain, happiness and security are constantly enhanced.
The system of policies and systems for eco-environmental protection has been continuously improved.
On September 10th this year, the draft national park law was first submitted to the the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) meeting for deliberation. This is the first time that China has made special legislation on national parks at the national level.
The legal system is an important force to protect green mountains and rivers. After decades of exploration, the legal system of ecological environmental protection and the institutional system of "four beams and eight pillars" of ecological civilization in Socialism with Chinese characteristics have basically taken shape.
From 1978, when "the state protects the environment and natural resources, and prevents pollution and other public hazards" was written into the Constitution for the first time, to the adoption of the Environmental Protection Law in 1989, the ecological environment protection work gradually entered the track of legalization.
In the 21st century, the state 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.
In 2023, the staff of Hechang Studio in Xinqiao Community, jinniu district, Chengdu, Sichuan visited Fuhe River. Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Hongjing photo
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee has demanded that the ecological environment be protected by the strictest system and the strictest rule of law, and the system of ecological environmental protection policies and systems has been continuously improved.
Formulate and revise the environmental protection law and more than 30 eco-environmental laws and regulations. In particular, the Environmental Protection Law revised in 2014 introduced measures such as continuous daily fines, seizure and seizure, limited production and production, administrative detention and public interest litigation, and was rated as the "strictest environmental protection law in history". Nowadays, the legal system of eco-environmental protection has covered pollution prevention and control fields such as atmosphere, water, soil and noise, as well as important ecosystems and elements such as the Yangtze River, wetlands and black land, and the legal system of eco-environment has been improved.
We will issue and implement the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization, the Overall Plan for the Reform of Ecological Civilization System and dozens of specific reform plans, and gradually establish basic systems such as the property right system of natural resources assets, the system for the development and protection of national territory and space, the system for overall resource management and conservation, the system for paid use of resources and ecological compensation, the system for environmental governance and ecological protection market, the system for performance evaluation and accountability of ecological civilization, and the nature of ecological civilization is "four beams and eight pillars".
Firmly grasp the "bull’s nose" of the responsibility system, establish and implement systems such as evaluation and assessment of the objectives of ecological civilization construction, assessment of the effectiveness of the tough battle against pollution, audit of the departure of leading cadres’ natural resources assets, system of long rivers and lakes, system of long forests, lifelong investigation of responsibility for ecological environmental damage, compensation for ecological environmental damage, etc. The responsibility system in which party Committee leaders, governments lead, enterprises, social organizations and the public participate is more rigorous and sound, and the consciousness and initiative of the whole party and the whole country to promote ecological civilization construction is constantly enhanced.
People live up to the castle peak, and the castle peak will live up to 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 guidance of the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core, we will anchor the goal of building a beautiful China, persevere and make contributions for a long time, and we will surely write a new green mile.