President vows vast battle with pollution

President Xi Jinping said the country will fight against pollution and push ecological civilization to a new level during a tone-setting meeting on environmental protection that ended on Saturday.

China will push for coordination between economic and social development and ecological civilization, Xi said when addressing the two-day national conference.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said the country will channel more energy into promoting ecological civilization and resolving environmental problems, backed by political advantages of the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC and the socialist system, as well as the achievements made during 40 years of reform and opening-up.

Building an ecological civilization is of fundamental importance for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said, noting that a great deal of work has been done since the 18th CPC National Congress to bring profound and historic changes regarding ecological and -environmental protection.

China has started to conduct central environmental inspections, carried out guidelines to control air, water and soil pollution, published its own plans to realize the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is implementing a national plan to tackle climate change.

Despite improvements in China’s ecological environment, Xi said the progress was not made in a firm manner.

Creating such an ecological civilization has entered a critical period requiring more quality ecological goods to meet the public’s growing demand and a period when China can address the top issues, he said.

With the Chinese economy transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development, Xi said, there will be conventional and unconventional challenges and difficulties. “We must bite the bullet and overcome them,” he said.

Xi said ecology and environment are closely connected with people’s well-being, so he urged that work be done to meet public expectations.

He said China must abide by the following principles to push forward an ecological civilization in a new era:

?Harmony be-tween people and nature is essential. China must stick to the policy of putting conservation and protection first and relying on natural environmental recovery.

?Clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. China must pursue the vision of innovative, coordinated, green and open development that is for everyone; accelerate forming spatial patterns, industrial structures, production and living modes that are resource-saving and environmentally friendly; and provide time and space for the natural ecology to rehabilitate.

?Sound ecological environment is the most inclusive benefits to people’s well-being. Priority should be given to addressing prominent environmental problems that are harmful to people’s health in order to keep up with people’s needs for a better environment.

?Mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes and grasslands are a life community. The building of an ecological civilization must take all factors into consideration.

?Protecting the environment requires the best institutional arrangements and the strictest rule of law. Institutional innovations must be accelerated and enforcement must be strengthened.

?Working together on global ecological civilization construction and getting involved in global environmental governance to come up with a worldwide solution for environmental protection and sustainable development.

Xi emphasized that China should accelerate its development of an ecological civilization system and foster an ecological culture that values ecology and the environment.

This must be done to ensure that, by 2035, there will be a fundamental improvement in the quality of the environment so the goal of building a Beautiful China will be attained.

Xi called for comprehensive efforts to promote green de-velopment, which is not only an inevitable requirement to de-velop a modern high-quality economy but also a fundamental solution for pollution.

Key emphasis will be placed on adjusting the economic structure and energy structure; optimizing the layout of the development of territorial space; improving the industrial layout in different regions and river valleys; fostering and expanding industries concerning energy conservation, environment protection, clean production and clean energy; and encouraging simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon ways of life.

He said that prominent environmental problems will be tackled first, as they concern the people’s well-being.

The top priority is winning the battle against air pollution to return the blue sky to the people, Xi said, calling for concerted efforts to basically eliminate heavy pollution days.

An action plan for preventing and controlling water pollution must be advanced to ensure the safety of drinking water and that black and odorous water will be rare in cities.

Comprehensive efforts must be taken to implement the action plan concerning the prevention and control of soil pollution, while key regions and sectors and major pollutants will be targeted. The restoration of polluted soil will be intensified so people can have peace of mind about the food they eat and the places they live.

Consistent efforts will be made to improve rural living environments and preserve idyllic scenery in villages.

Xi called for effective prevention of ecological and environmental risks, since ecological and environmental security is an important part of national security and a guarantee to achieve sustainable and healthy development of the Chinese economy and society.

Ecological risk management will become a regular practice, he said.

Xi urged improved environmental governance, saying that China will make full use of market means, improve resources and environment pricing mechanisms and strengthen support for public-private partnership projects.

Technological research will receive more support, and countermeasure study for major ecological and environmental issues will be initiated.

China will also push forward building fair and reasonable global climate gov-ernance in promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Xi stressed the importance of strengthening the party’s leadership in the urgent and tough battle against pollution.

Major leaders of local Party committees and governments will be held responsible for environmental protection in their own administrative re-gions, Xi said. A scientific and reasonable evaluation system will be established to assess the performance of officials, and those damaging the environment will be accountable.

Premier Li Keqiang also made a speech at the meeting.

Vice-Premier Han Zheng made the concluding speech, emphasizing the need to thoroughly understand Xi’s speech.

Also at the meeting were several other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau — Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Wang Huning, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee; and Zhao Leji, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.