On Xi Jinping’s Important Statements on Reform …
615
vigorously promoted the institutional reform of the State Council in line with the
principle that “mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands form a
living community.” The Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and
Environment, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration are established to re-define and re-divide responsibilities. Taking water pollution control as
an example, the power of administering surface water and groundwater, rivers, lakes
and shore water, land water and marine water, is consolidated.
3. The reform is goal-oriented
There are broad and specific goals for the system reform. The broad goal is to build a
beautiful China, for the system reform is the fundamental guarantee for the building
of an ecological civilization. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress for
the first time lists the building of a beautiful China as the grand goal of ecological
conservation; the report to the 19th CPC National Congress again emphasizes that
the Beautiful China Initiative is an important part of the Chinese dream of national
rejuvenation. As the title of its ninth section “Speeding up Reform of the System for
Developing an Ecological Civilization, and Building a Beautiful China” suggests,
the reform is a means toward the goal and purpose of building a beautiful China.
The specific goal is to improve the system and mechanism. According to The Master
Plan for Reform of the System for Developing an Ecological Civilization, the goal
of the reform is to “establish by 2020 a systematic, complete set of institutions for
developing an ecological civilization that features clearly defined property rights,
multi-party participation and equal attention to incentives and constraints, and is
composed of eight systems: the property rights system for natural resources, the
land and space development and protection system, the space planning system, the
total resource management, and comprehensive conservation system, the system
for paying for resources consumption and compensating for ecological damage,
the environmental governance system, the environmental governance and ecological protection market system, the ecological evaluation and accountability system,
promote the modernization of national governance system and capabilities in the
field of ecological conservation, and strive to move toward a new era of developing
a socialist ecological civilization.” It thus can be seen that the specific goal of the
reform is to promote the development of the national governance system and the
modernization of governance capabilities in the field of ecological conservation.
4. The system reform for promoting ecological progress is based on top-level
design
The reform of system for developing an ecological civilization was mainly a bottomup initiative before the 18th CPC National Congress, but since then it has been
powerfully pushed ahead from top down and based on top-level design. Xi Jinping
has played a decisive role in the key document drafting and decision-making of
all the plenary sessions and the Central Committee since the 18th CPC National
Congress. According to the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Some Major
615
vigorously promoted the institutional reform of the State Council in line with the
principle that “mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands form a
living community.” The Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and
Environment, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration are established to re-define and re-divide responsibilities. Taking water pollution control as
an example, the power of administering surface water and groundwater, rivers, lakes
and shore water, land water and marine water, is consolidated.
3. The reform is goal-oriented
There are broad and specific goals for the system reform. The broad goal is to build a
beautiful China, for the system reform is the fundamental guarantee for the building
of an ecological civilization. The report to the 18th CPC National Congress for
the first time lists the building of a beautiful China as the grand goal of ecological
conservation; the report to the 19th CPC National Congress again emphasizes that
the Beautiful China Initiative is an important part of the Chinese dream of national
rejuvenation. As the title of its ninth section “Speeding up Reform of the System for
Developing an Ecological Civilization, and Building a Beautiful China” suggests,
the reform is a means toward the goal and purpose of building a beautiful China.
The specific goal is to improve the system and mechanism. According to The Master
Plan for Reform of the System for Developing an Ecological Civilization, the goal
of the reform is to “establish by 2020 a systematic, complete set of institutions for
developing an ecological civilization that features clearly defined property rights,
multi-party participation and equal attention to incentives and constraints, and is
composed of eight systems: the property rights system for natural resources, the
land and space development and protection system, the space planning system, the
total resource management, and comprehensive conservation system, the system
for paying for resources consumption and compensating for ecological damage,
the environmental governance system, the environmental governance and ecological protection market system, the ecological evaluation and accountability system,
promote the modernization of national governance system and capabilities in the
field of ecological conservation, and strive to move toward a new era of developing
a socialist ecological civilization.” It thus can be seen that the specific goal of the
reform is to promote the development of the national governance system and the
modernization of governance capabilities in the field of ecological conservation.
4. The system reform for promoting ecological progress is based on top-level
design
The reform of system for developing an ecological civilization was mainly a bottomup initiative before the 18th CPC National Congress, but since then it has been
powerfully pushed ahead from top down and based on top-level design. Xi Jinping
has played a decisive role in the key document drafting and decision-making of
all the plenary sessions and the Central Committee since the 18th CPC National
Congress. According to the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Some Major