474
G. Xia
policies in that regard are not established and perfected until long afterwards, and
the same happens to the regulatory mechanism and administrative forces needed to
ensure rigorous execution. The development of environmental protection agencies
is far behind economic development authorities, and the Ministry of Environmental
Protection wasn’t formed until 2008.
(3) Important turning point
The consistent backwardness of environmental protection began to change after the
18th CPC National Congress, when our principal social contradiction was between
people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate
development—this is the background for the rise of environmental protection. After
the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan was determined, efforts of environmental protection
have obviously been stepped up with the issuance of tens of institutional reform
plans for ecological civilization and the implementation of the stringent new Law on
Environmental Protection. Thanks to the central environmental protection inspections and the accountability system, a large number of enterprises that are illegally
built, poorly managed and highly polluting have been shut down, clean energies
have replaced bulk coal burning on a large scale, and masses of heavily polluting
production capacity have been eliminated. The economic structure and development
quality is improved, so is environmental quality. Ecological progress has gradually become a widely understood and accepted political consensus among Party and
government leaders of all levels as well as among the public. In sum, the series of
fundamental, innovative and forward-looking work conducted since the 18th CPC
National Congress has brought about historic, dramatic and comprehensive changes
in environmental protection, indicating that our governance system is getting more
complete and sound. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the National Conference on Eco-environmental Protection that we must move faster to build systems for
an ecological civilization with ecological culture, ecological economy, targets and
responsibilities, institutional guarantee and ecological security as the main contents.
In other words, we must make comprehensive arrangements for ecological progress as
a key domain of the Party’s state governance, and work to modernize the governance
system and capability.
As a whole, continuously deepening our understanding of China’s national conditions, correctly handling the relation between man and nature and speeding up ecological progress are a new proposition on our way to achieving the historical mission
of Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation, and is bound to become a key domain of the
CPC’s state governance. We have been negligent and delayed on this front in the past,
but now we are catching up and shoring up this weak link—this is a major political
issue and task that calls for the united efforts of all Chinese.
2. Ecological civilization is an inherent part of socialism
Article 1 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China provides, the People’s
Republic of China is a socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led
by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The nature
G. Xia
policies in that regard are not established and perfected until long afterwards, and
the same happens to the regulatory mechanism and administrative forces needed to
ensure rigorous execution. The development of environmental protection agencies
is far behind economic development authorities, and the Ministry of Environmental
Protection wasn’t formed until 2008.
(3) Important turning point
The consistent backwardness of environmental protection began to change after the
18th CPC National Congress, when our principal social contradiction was between
people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and the unbalanced and inadequate
development—this is the background for the rise of environmental protection. After
the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan was determined, efforts of environmental protection
have obviously been stepped up with the issuance of tens of institutional reform
plans for ecological civilization and the implementation of the stringent new Law on
Environmental Protection. Thanks to the central environmental protection inspections and the accountability system, a large number of enterprises that are illegally
built, poorly managed and highly polluting have been shut down, clean energies
have replaced bulk coal burning on a large scale, and masses of heavily polluting
production capacity have been eliminated. The economic structure and development
quality is improved, so is environmental quality. Ecological progress has gradually become a widely understood and accepted political consensus among Party and
government leaders of all levels as well as among the public. In sum, the series of
fundamental, innovative and forward-looking work conducted since the 18th CPC
National Congress has brought about historic, dramatic and comprehensive changes
in environmental protection, indicating that our governance system is getting more
complete and sound. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the National Conference on Eco-environmental Protection that we must move faster to build systems for
an ecological civilization with ecological culture, ecological economy, targets and
responsibilities, institutional guarantee and ecological security as the main contents.
In other words, we must make comprehensive arrangements for ecological progress as
a key domain of the Party’s state governance, and work to modernize the governance
system and capability.
As a whole, continuously deepening our understanding of China’s national conditions, correctly handling the relation between man and nature and speeding up ecological progress are a new proposition on our way to achieving the historical mission
of Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation, and is bound to become a key domain of the
CPC’s state governance. We have been negligent and delayed on this front in the past,
but now we are catching up and shoring up this weak link—this is a major political
issue and task that calls for the united efforts of all Chinese.
2. Ecological civilization is an inherent part of socialism
Article 1 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China provides, the People’s
Republic of China is a socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led
by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. The nature