468
D. Hong
the industry registered a yearly output value of RMB 108 billion, which rose to RMB
1100 billion in 2010.
Apart from environmental protection industry, resource-oriented enterprises that
specialize in resource mining and produce mineral and primary products command
an important position, but their production is accompanied with serious environmental impacts. In 2013, the industrial solid waste, waste water and waste gas
emitted by resource enterprises accounted for 97.1%, 77.7% and 92.4% of all
industrial discharge. But recent studies show a growing trend of green behaviors
among them, although still with room for improvement. For instance, 84.5% of
the resource enterprises surveyed included environmental protection in their target
system, 80.4% attached importance to their environment-friendly image, 70.3% regularly trained their employees in environmental awareness and environmental management skills, 69.4% seen their employees actively participate in environmental practices, 83.5% considered energy conservation and circular energy use in production
design, 77.6% prioritized renewable and recyclable production materials, 79.4%
had material and scrapped recycling system during production, and 80.8% adopted
environment-friendly production process. All these indicate that businesses’ green
actions in rational pursuit for profits may also become an endogenous drive for social
transformation.
3 Effects and Prospects of Green Social Construction
Green social construction generates multi-faceted effects, with environmental effect
being a main facet. From the perspective of environmental protection, an official at
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment described with five “unprecedented” the
profound social changes aimed at better environmental quality since the 18th CPC
National Congress—the depth of understanding is unprecedented, the intensity of
pollution prevention and control is unprecedented, the high frequency of the issuance
of new regulations is unprecedented, the vigor of law enforcement is unprecedented,
and the high speed of environmental improvement is unprecedented.
Relevant materials indeed denote remarkable progress in environmental protection
and ecological progress in the five years after the 18th CPC National Congress. For
example, the forest coverage rate in China has increased continuously from 21.38% in
2012 to 22.3% in 2016; the average concentration of inhalable particle (PM 10) in 338
prefecture and higher level cities fell by 22.7% from 2013; the average concentration
of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze
River Delta and Pearl River Delta was down by 39.6%, 34.3% and 27.7% from 2013;
and after the promulgation of “10-Chapter Water Pollution Action Plan,” Grade I, II
and III surface water rose from 6% to 67.8% and that of Grade V-minus surface water
fell from 9.7% to 8.6%. The 2017 Bulletin of Environmental Situation in China made
the following conclusion: “the air and water quality in China is further improved,
soil environment risks are curbed, ecosystem is generally stable and nuclear and
D. Hong
the industry registered a yearly output value of RMB 108 billion, which rose to RMB
1100 billion in 2010.
Apart from environmental protection industry, resource-oriented enterprises that
specialize in resource mining and produce mineral and primary products command
an important position, but their production is accompanied with serious environmental impacts. In 2013, the industrial solid waste, waste water and waste gas
emitted by resource enterprises accounted for 97.1%, 77.7% and 92.4% of all
industrial discharge. But recent studies show a growing trend of green behaviors
among them, although still with room for improvement. For instance, 84.5% of
the resource enterprises surveyed included environmental protection in their target
system, 80.4% attached importance to their environment-friendly image, 70.3% regularly trained their employees in environmental awareness and environmental management skills, 69.4% seen their employees actively participate in environmental practices, 83.5% considered energy conservation and circular energy use in production
design, 77.6% prioritized renewable and recyclable production materials, 79.4%
had material and scrapped recycling system during production, and 80.8% adopted
environment-friendly production process. All these indicate that businesses’ green
actions in rational pursuit for profits may also become an endogenous drive for social
transformation.
3 Effects and Prospects of Green Social Construction
Green social construction generates multi-faceted effects, with environmental effect
being a main facet. From the perspective of environmental protection, an official at
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment described with five “unprecedented” the
profound social changes aimed at better environmental quality since the 18th CPC
National Congress—the depth of understanding is unprecedented, the intensity of
pollution prevention and control is unprecedented, the high frequency of the issuance
of new regulations is unprecedented, the vigor of law enforcement is unprecedented,
and the high speed of environmental improvement is unprecedented.
Relevant materials indeed denote remarkable progress in environmental protection
and ecological progress in the five years after the 18th CPC National Congress. For
example, the forest coverage rate in China has increased continuously from 21.38% in
2012 to 22.3% in 2016; the average concentration of inhalable particle (PM 10) in 338
prefecture and higher level cities fell by 22.7% from 2013; the average concentration
of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze
River Delta and Pearl River Delta was down by 39.6%, 34.3% and 27.7% from 2013;
and after the promulgation of “10-Chapter Water Pollution Action Plan,” Grade I, II
and III surface water rose from 6% to 67.8% and that of Grade V-minus surface water
fell from 9.7% to 8.6%. The 2017 Bulletin of Environmental Situation in China made
the following conclusion: “the air and water quality in China is further improved,
soil environment risks are curbed, ecosystem is generally stable and nuclear and