China in 2018: Pushing forward ecological civilization in a new era

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"Ecological advancement leads to civilization prosperity whereas ecological deterioration leads to civilization decline." – Xi Jinping

Year 2018 marks the first year of fully implementing the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which vowed to pursue the vision of innovative, coordinated, green, and open development that is for everyone.

During the past years, 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 the climate change.

China's actions for ecological advancement

Below are some remarkable actions taken in 2018 regarding ecological and environmental protection:

--China introduced the environmental protection tax in January, aimed at protecting the environment and cutting pollutant discharge. Over 260,000 enterprises and other entities started paying the tax in April.

Aerial photo taken on March 28, 2018 shows the scenery in Lijia village, Jiande city of east China's Zhejiang Province. Environment has been upgraded at the Lijia Village for the development of rural tourism, which increases the income of local villagers. /Xinhua Photo

--As part of a massive cabinet reshuffle plan, China in March established the new Ministry of Ecology and Environment to take charge of the protection of fresh water, land, air and oceans, and the Ministry of Natural Resources responsible for making overall planning and overseeing the development and protection of natural resources.

--The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council in June publicly announced a guideline for enhancing environmental protection and winning the battle against air, water and soil pollution, specifying concrete pollution control targets for 2020 and beyond.

--According to the data from China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in the first ten months of 2018, a total of 33,015 environmental violations were reported, leading to fines of over 11.8 billion yuan (1.71 billion U.S. dollars), and 6,590 people were detained.

--In terms of global cooperation in environment protection, one notable action is the launch of China-France Year of the Environment. President Xi said the act is to strengthen bilateral dialogue and cooperation in areas such as eco-protection, climate change and biodiversity, so as to deal with the global environmental challenge with concerted efforts.

Goals and challenges

China in July released a three-year action plan aimed at cleaning the nation's air. Here are some of the key points:

CGTN Infographic

Green development is another priority of the new action plan, especially in terms of industry, energy, transportation and land use. Strong efforts will be made to cut overcapacity, promote clean heat for the northern region, and phase-out aging vehicles and vessels.

As for the long-term goal, President Xi reiterated during a tone-setting meeting on environmental protection in May that by 2035, China wants to make a fundamental improvement to the environment, and the goal of building a Beautiful China will be basically attained.

Despite an overall improvement in China's ecological environment, there is still a long way ahead to accomplish its green development goals, with the contradiction between economic growth and environmental protection still conspicuous.

(With inputs from Xinhua)