Environmental conference provides platform for international community

The first national-level forum on ecological construction was held on Saturday in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province.

The Eco-Forum Global Annual Conference's theme was green transformation and transition. The annual conference is dedicated to the promotion of green industry, green urbanization and green consumption and helps to shape global and regional agendas on sustainable development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the significance of ecological civilization construction in China in a letter of congratulation read at the conference's opening ceremony.

The forum will provide a platform for opportunities and cooperation for countries across the globe, while further boosting the relationship between China and the international community, said Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli at the opening ceremony of the conference.

The forum is focused on sustainable efficient energy, food safety and ecological agriculture, green architecture as the future of real estate and ecological tourism. It has attracted more than 1,000 leaders, experts and scholars from around the globe.

Since the conference was launched in 2009, the event has been devoted to setting up an international platform to draw on the wisdom of talents from a diverse range of fields to further promote the concept of ecological civilization, said Zhang Xinsheng, head of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and secretary of the Global Eco-Forum in Guiyang, during the opening ceremony.

"Frequent ecological environment security crisis' worldwide has rang the alarm for us," he said.

Hosting the international eco-forum has drawn the world's attention to southwestern provincial capital city Guiyang.

Like many Chinese cities, Guiyang is going through rapid development, industrialization and urbanization, which requires us to further ponder the development model we resort to, said Zhao Kezhi, Party chief of Guizhou province.

The ecological environment in Guizhou is very fragile and susceptible to damage, and we should not take shortcuts and achieve economic growth at the cost of the environment, he said.

A key component of the annual conference this year, was the first China Ecological Products (Technologies) Expo, which kicked off on Friday. The expo has attracted more than 260 exhibitors to display their advanced concepts and technologies, including many top international organizations and multinational companies, and brought about a total investment of 33.2 billion yuan ($5.4 billion) with agreements for more than 30 ecology products, energy production, shale gas exploration and eco-tourism, signed.

zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn