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C. Chen
guiding policies as the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of
an Ecological Civilization and the General Plan for the Reform of the
Ecological Civilization System. By doing so, it has refined many laws
and regulations regarding the development of an ecological civilization,
and established a number of systems for the evaluation of the objectives in
this ecological campaign, the off-office auditing of natural resource assets,
and accountability for damage on the environment. It has also smoothly
implemented such policies and systems as the reform of green finance, the
compilation of balance sheets for natural resources, environmental protection taxes and compensation for ecological conservation. The government
has launched a comprehensive national experiment in the reform of the
ecological civilization system, further perfecting the institutional system
for building an ecological civilization.
(4) Building an ecological civilization as a priority. Party committees and
governments at all levels have made the development of an ecological
civilization an important task in the new era. All departments, institutions
and social organizations have proactively made planning and taken action.
Building an ecological civilization has become the consensus of society
as a whole. People across the country have united in their determination
to develop an ecological civilization, build a beautiful China and realize
the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
2. Significant achievements in ecological conservation and environmental
governance
(1) Identifying the bottom line and objectives of ecological conservation. All
parts of the country have conscientiously drawn the red line for ecological
conservation; and they have identified goals, tasks, timetable and road map
for the development of ecological civilization, giving a boost to green
development in an orderly manner.
(2) Rapid development of greening and beautification throughout the country.
From 2012 to 2016, 11.6 billion trees were planted, over 500 million mu
of land area were afforested, forest coverage reached 22.98%, forest area
amounted to 3.2 billion mu, forest growing stock was 16.5 billion m
3 ,
300-plus cities carried out the construction of national forest cities, and
there were 2750 nature reserves nationwide. All the achievements have
made China one with the largest increase in forest resources across the
world in the same period.
(3) Significant results made in air pollution control. Through vigorous remediation, we have banned and closed down high-energy-consumption and
high-polluting enterprises, and vigorously promoted pollution prevention and control, leading to a reduction in the average concentration of
respirable particulates (PM 10) in 338 cities at the prefectural level and
above nationwide. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River
Delta and the Pearl River Delta, the average concentration of PM 2.5 has
dropped significantly. In Beijing, for example, the average concentration
C. Chen
guiding policies as the Opinions on Accelerating the Development of
an Ecological Civilization and the General Plan for the Reform of the
Ecological Civilization System. By doing so, it has refined many laws
and regulations regarding the development of an ecological civilization,
and established a number of systems for the evaluation of the objectives in
this ecological campaign, the off-office auditing of natural resource assets,
and accountability for damage on the environment. It has also smoothly
implemented such policies and systems as the reform of green finance, the
compilation of balance sheets for natural resources, environmental protection taxes and compensation for ecological conservation. The government
has launched a comprehensive national experiment in the reform of the
ecological civilization system, further perfecting the institutional system
for building an ecological civilization.
(4) Building an ecological civilization as a priority. Party committees and
governments at all levels have made the development of an ecological
civilization an important task in the new era. All departments, institutions
and social organizations have proactively made planning and taken action.
Building an ecological civilization has become the consensus of society
as a whole. People across the country have united in their determination
to develop an ecological civilization, build a beautiful China and realize
the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
2. Significant achievements in ecological conservation and environmental
governance
(1) Identifying the bottom line and objectives of ecological conservation. All
parts of the country have conscientiously drawn the red line for ecological
conservation; and they have identified goals, tasks, timetable and road map
for the development of ecological civilization, giving a boost to green
development in an orderly manner.
(2) Rapid development of greening and beautification throughout the country.
From 2012 to 2016, 11.6 billion trees were planted, over 500 million mu
of land area were afforested, forest coverage reached 22.98%, forest area
amounted to 3.2 billion mu, forest growing stock was 16.5 billion m
3 ,
300-plus cities carried out the construction of national forest cities, and
there were 2750 nature reserves nationwide. All the achievements have
made China one with the largest increase in forest resources across the
world in the same period.
(3) Significant results made in air pollution control. Through vigorous remediation, we have banned and closed down high-energy-consumption and
high-polluting enterprises, and vigorously promoted pollution prevention and control, leading to a reduction in the average concentration of
respirable particulates (PM 10) in 338 cities at the prefectural level and
above nationwide. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River
Delta and the Pearl River Delta, the average concentration of PM 2.5 has
dropped significantly. In Beijing, for example, the average concentration