New China at 75: Building a beautiful China

I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn and here's what I'm watching on New China's 75th anniversary: Environmental protection for a beautiful China as a national priority, stressing harmonious coexistence between man and nature. For President Xi Jinping, people should protect the environment like we protect our eyes. "Green" is the third of Xi's five "New Development Concepts." It is the first time that ecology was elevated to first-rank national priority. "Beautiful" is one of the six aspirational adjectives that describe the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. But a country cannot claim to be "beautiful" if its air, water and soil is severely polluted. The Chinese people have become more vocal in condemning pollution and more active in fighting it.

Sustainable, green development is an absolute requirement for China to achieve its national goals. President Xi said, "The ecological environment is a major political issue related to the Party's mission and purpose." The distinctive themes are comprehensively promoting the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, environmental protection and economic development, and the relationship between the environment and people's well-being. Pollution violations are being severely punished. Xi said that problems in environmental protection relate largely to "the imperfect system" where "the system is not strict, the rule of law is not strict, the implementation is not in place, and the punishment is not effective."

The construction of ecological civilization, according to President Xi, is "the most important issue of the country." Whenever he visits local areas for inspections, he speaks repeatedly about the concept and requirements of ecological civilization, especially the need to integrate protection and governance of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and deserts, and that a clean, healthy environment is a vital benefit for people's lives.

From 2016 to 2023, the average concentration of PM2.5 in urban air dropped by 28.6%; and the number of days with heavy pollution dropped by 93%. At the same time, the proportion of surface water of good quality increased from 68% to nearly 90%, and soil environmental risks have been reduced, with a cumulative reduction of 100 million tons of solid wastes.

In the 21st century, about 1/4 of the world's new greening area has come from China. While global forest resources decline, China has become the country with the fastest and largest forest growth. Moreover, China is expanding its national park system in order to maintain natural ecosystems, protect biodiversity, protect ecological security barriers, and leave precious natural assets for future generations. China has established species protection centers for giant pandas, Hainan gibbons, Asian elephants, pangolins, and elks, and is protecting endangered species and their habitats.

In terms of green transformation, in recent years China has supported an annual economic growth of more than 6% with an average annual energy consumption growth rate of 3%. The energy intensity has dropped by 26%. China has the world's largest carbon market and clean power generation system. The proportion of clean energy consumption has increased to 26.4%; and the installed capacity of renewable energy accounts for 53.8% of the total installed capacity of power generation, exceeding the national coal-fired power installed capacity. Hydropower, wind power, solar power, and biomass power are all ranked first in the world. New energy vehicle production leads the world by a wide margin.

President Xi stresses that building a beautiful China is an inherent part of Chinese modernization. The goal, by 2035, is a green lifestyle widely formed, carbon emissions stable and declining, the ecological environment fundamentally improved, and the goal of a beautiful China basically achieved. Building ecological civilization is a big vision and a long-term challenge.

I'm keeping watch; I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Script and Presenter: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Producer: Yang Yutong

Video Editor: Hao Xinxin

Graphic Designers: Ding Shuyao, Zhang Ruixin

Executive Producer: Sun Lan

Chief Editor:  Li Shouen

Supervisors: Xiao Jian, Adam Zhu

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