344
S. Wu
the CPC and the State Council on Comprehensively Enhancing Eco-environmental
Protection to Completely Win the Battle against Pollution, the action plans for the
prevention and control of air, water and soil pollution have been issued and implemented. As such, an all-out fight has been launched to keep our skies blue, our waters
clear, and our land pollution-free.
All localities have taken multiple measures to prevent and control air pollution.
From 2013 to 2018, the average concentration of inhalable particulate matter (PM
10) in 338 cities at prefecture-level and above dropped by 26.8%, and the average
concentration of PM 2.5 in Beijing dropped by 43% from 89.5 µg/m
3 to 51 Mg/m
3 .
After the Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control was issued, all
localities have vigorously promoted the investigation and remediation of environmental problems relating to centralized drinking water sources, with the focus on
the treatment of black and odorous water bodies in key river basins and cities. In
2018, the proportion of sections with good surface water (Class I to III) across the
country rose to 71% from 66% in 2015, while the proportion sections with inferior
Class V surface water fell to 6.7% from 9.7% in 2015. In the meanwhile, soil pollution prevention and control have been proceeding in an orderly manner. A total of
214 pilot projects of soil pollution control and remediation technologies have been
implemented nationwide. A resolute ban on foreign waste has been imposed and the
total volume of solid waste imports in 2018 decreased by 46.5% year on year.
With the accelerating progress in pollution treatment, increasing efforts have been
made in ecosystem conservation and restoration. A total of 2,750 nature reserves
at various levels have been built across the country, including 474 national nature
reserves. Various types of protected land areas cover more than 1.7 million km
2 ,
which effectively protected the natural ecosystem and a majority of key wild animals
and plant species. Moreover, the populations of rare and endangered species such as
giant panda are gradually restored. The national forest coverage rate has increased
from 16.6% at the beginning of the twenty-first century to about 22%.
7 Conclusion
The basic logic behind China’s choice to embark on the path of green development
could be analyzed from the above six aspects. The choice has been made to satisfy
the needs of socioeconomic development and demonstrates the active explorations
by the CPC based on the changing social contradictions. China has experienced a
journey from the emerging idea of green development to the practice of embarking
on the road of green development, from sustainable to scientific development, and
then to the development of ecological civilization in the new era. Thanks to the
efforts and explorations made by sever generations, the geographical space, industrial
mix, way of production and way of life in the interest of conserving resources and
protecting the environment have taken shape, while future for the green development
have been increasingly promising. At present, despite notable achievements in green
development, we still need to step up efforts for in-depth development on a larger
S. Wu
the CPC and the State Council on Comprehensively Enhancing Eco-environmental
Protection to Completely Win the Battle against Pollution, the action plans for the
prevention and control of air, water and soil pollution have been issued and implemented. As such, an all-out fight has been launched to keep our skies blue, our waters
clear, and our land pollution-free.
All localities have taken multiple measures to prevent and control air pollution.
From 2013 to 2018, the average concentration of inhalable particulate matter (PM
10) in 338 cities at prefecture-level and above dropped by 26.8%, and the average
concentration of PM 2.5 in Beijing dropped by 43% from 89.5 µg/m
3 to 51 Mg/m
3 .
After the Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control was issued, all
localities have vigorously promoted the investigation and remediation of environmental problems relating to centralized drinking water sources, with the focus on
the treatment of black and odorous water bodies in key river basins and cities. In
2018, the proportion of sections with good surface water (Class I to III) across the
country rose to 71% from 66% in 2015, while the proportion sections with inferior
Class V surface water fell to 6.7% from 9.7% in 2015. In the meanwhile, soil pollution prevention and control have been proceeding in an orderly manner. A total of
214 pilot projects of soil pollution control and remediation technologies have been
implemented nationwide. A resolute ban on foreign waste has been imposed and the
total volume of solid waste imports in 2018 decreased by 46.5% year on year.
With the accelerating progress in pollution treatment, increasing efforts have been
made in ecosystem conservation and restoration. A total of 2,750 nature reserves
at various levels have been built across the country, including 474 national nature
reserves. Various types of protected land areas cover more than 1.7 million km
2 ,
which effectively protected the natural ecosystem and a majority of key wild animals
and plant species. Moreover, the populations of rare and endangered species such as
giant panda are gradually restored. The national forest coverage rate has increased
from 16.6% at the beginning of the twenty-first century to about 22%.
7 Conclusion
The basic logic behind China’s choice to embark on the path of green development
could be analyzed from the above six aspects. The choice has been made to satisfy
the needs of socioeconomic development and demonstrates the active explorations
by the CPC based on the changing social contradictions. China has experienced a
journey from the emerging idea of green development to the practice of embarking
on the road of green development, from sustainable to scientific development, and
then to the development of ecological civilization in the new era. Thanks to the
efforts and explorations made by sever generations, the geographical space, industrial
mix, way of production and way of life in the interest of conserving resources and
protecting the environment have taken shape, while future for the green development
have been increasingly promising. At present, despite notable achievements in green
development, we still need to step up efforts for in-depth development on a larger