China protects environment to ensure human rights

BEIJING - China is working to build a beautiful country and guaranteeing the citizens' environmental rights, as part of its human rights protection efforts, according to a white paper issued on Tuesday.

Since China sent its HJ-1C satellite into space in 2012, fine particles (PM2.5 particles) have been included in the air quality index, says the white paper titled "Progress in China's Human Rights in 2012," which was released by the Information Office of the State Council.

According to the document, environmental assessment and monitoring have been further strengthened, which cover routine monitoring of environmental elements, such as surface water, air, acid deposition, impact of sand and dust storms, drinking-water source areas, offshore seas, urban noise and ecosystems, supervisory monitoring of pollution sources and early-warning monitoring of emergencies.

National and local environment monitoring networks that cover all environmental elements have basically been established in China, and an environmental supervision system has been further enhanced, it says.

Facing increasing resource constraints, severe environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation, China is working to raise the ecological awareness of the need to respect, accommodate and protect nature, give high priority to making ecological progress and incorporate it as one of the five main goals for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the document says.

During the 11th Five-year Plan period (2006-2010), China's fiscal investment in environmental and ecological protection was 3.71 times that during the previous five years, the white paper says.

Moreover, the central government has earmarked special funds for projects such as rural environmental protection and integrated prevention and control of heavy metal contamination in some key areas, the white paper says.

A legal and policy framework has been established to protect citizens' environmental rights, and their rights to clean living environment and good eco-environment have also been further secured, the document says.