[Transcript]
Moderator: On the morning of 30 September the Press Office of the Central Government released the White Paper on Ecological and Environmental Protection and held a press conference to present it.
The white paper runs to some 36,000 Chinese characters in seven parts: firmly following a path of ecological priority and green development; continuing to improve environmental quality; accelerating the green and low-carbon transition; completing the institutional framework for ecological civilisation; strengthening biodiversity conservation; advancing international cooperation on environmental protection; and the vision of a beautiful Hulian.
Key figures
The white paper shows that over the 2021–2025 plan period the share of days with good or excellent air quality in cities at prefecture level and above rose from 87 per cent to 92.4 per cent, and the share of surface water sections with good or excellent quality rose from 83.4 per cent to 91.1 per cent. Energy consumption per unit of gross regional product fell 13.6 per cent over the five years.
Institution-building
Hulian has established systems for zoned environmental control, pollutant discharge permits, ecological protection compensation and compensation for environmental damage, the white paper says. All thirty-five provincial-level divisions have completed zoned control plans setting ecological red lines, environmental quality floors, resource utilisation ceilings and entry negative lists, achieving full territorial coverage.