China vows to win battle against pollution
By
Cao Siqi and Wang Cong from Global Times
China
has reaffirmed its determination to win the tough battle against pollution and
pledged that boosting the economy will not come at the price of a degraded
environment.
Speaking
to reporters at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative
session on March 11, China’s Ecology and Environment Minister Li Ganjie vowed
to coordinate efforts of environmental protection and economic development in
2019, an critical year for winning the battle.
Li
claimed that China has made progress in addressing the prominent problems on
environmental protection, especially along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and
promised the public that the monitoring data are accurate and authentic.
However, he also admitted that the battle remains an arduous task and there
were huge gaps between cities and regions.
Chinese
analysts said that although previous practices in dealing with environmental
problems have led to the shutdown of factories and a decline in local fiscal
revenue, in the long run, the battle against pollution will bring a new
economic growth point and help China switch from high-speed growth to
high-quality growth.
No crossing red
line
In
2018, the proportion of blue-sky days in 338 cities at or above the prefectural
level increased by 1.3 percentage points to 79.3 percent, with PM 2.5
concentrations dropping 9.3 percent year-on-year, Li said.
Meanwhile,
to fight smog, China has expanded its coal-to-gas and coal-to-electricity
projects to 35 cities in 2018 from 12 cities the previous year, Li noted.
As
for protecting the Yangtze River, Li said 99.9 percent of the 1,474 drinking
water sources in cities above county-level along the Yangtze River Economic
Belt, stringing up 11 provinces and municipalities from west to east, have had
their problems resolved.
Li
added that over 90 percent of the 12 “black and malodorous water bodies” in
provincial capital cities have been cleaned up, while prefecture-level cities
are catching up.
Li
also reiterated what President Xi Jinping had said when he attended a panel
discussion with deputies to the National People’s Congress from Inner Mongolia
on March 5: Local governments should not pursue economic growth at the cost of
the environment when economic development encounters difficulties. Li marked it
as a key guide for the future battle against pollution.
At
the panel discussion, Xi stressed efforts to maintain strategic resolve in
enhancing the building of an ecological civilization and to protect the
country’s beautiful scenery in the northern border areas.
Xi
warned local governments against launching new projects to boost economic
growth by sacrificing the environment when its economic growth encounters
difficulties, and not to even consider trying to cross the ecological red
line.
Xi
underlined a resolute and effective fight to prevent and control pollution,
saying prominent environmental issues the people are strongly concerned about
must be addressed properly.
New growth point
There
has been a misunderstanding that green development will restrain economic
growth. In fact, environmental protection itself can be a very promising field
for investment, Xu Hongcai, assistant minister at the Ministry of Finance, told
the Global Times.
The
governments have discarded their previous simple approach and are trying to
find a balance between fighting pollution and stabilizing growth, Xu said.
For
example, instead of shutting factories down, local governments are supporting
companies which upgrade facilities, increasing investment to them and helping
laid-off employees find new jobs, he said.
The
green industry is also a new economic growth point. Some companies which
invested in pollution treatment facilities now experience record high profits,
Xu said.
The
city of Hengshui in North China’s Hebei Province is one example. The Hengshui
government provides environment management guidance to help enterprises achieve
green development.
Thanks
to the environment protection upgrade, Hengshui Baili Rubber Products Co. bid farewell
to its previously disheveled factory area, meeting the requirements of the
European market, media reports said.
(China’s Ecology
and Environment Minister Li Ganjie is answering questions from the journalists
on March 11.
Photo: Weng
Qiyu, People’s Daily Online)
China vows to win battle against pollution
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