The Ningxia Hui autonomous region will adhere to an ecological priority and emphasize the battle for environmental protection in 2024, according to the region's government work report to the annual session of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional People's Congress.

The region will persist in the integrated protection and comprehensive management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts, as well as initiate a campaign to address prominent issues in managing natural resources assets and ecological environmental protection, the report said.

Ningxia will also actively engage in a comprehensive campaign to promote the integrated management of water resources and water ecology and the construction of seven pilot areas, including its capital city, Yinchuan.

The report said 80 percent of the construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

The region will make efforts to build a water-saving society and make 70 percent of the counties meet the national standards for water-saving societies. At the same time, all industrial parks will implement a system for water resource project assessment.

Efforts will be intensified to reduce water consumption in agriculture and industry and to enhance the scale of recycled water utilization.

The construction of modern water networks will be accelerated to achieve comprehensive water control from the source to every user.

Ningxia will also carry out a determined battle to prevent and control desertification and soil erosion, the report said.

Efforts will be accelerated to establish the Helan Mountains and Liupan Mountain National Parks. Active exploration and promotion of the transformation of ecological resources into economic resources will be pursued, which will help establish a mechanism to realize the value of ecological products.

The region will further advance the prevention and control of air pollution, including launching the action to achieve 100 percent clean heating rates in urban areas of Yinchuan, Wuzhong, Guyuan and Zhongwei.

Actions will be taken to protect drinking water sources, increasing the urban recycled water utilization rate to 45 percent while promoting comprehensive pollution control in agricultural non-point source pollution, and implementing actions to prevent soil pollution at the source and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Ningxia will also vigorously promote green and low-carbon development, considering it the fundamental solution to ecological and environmental problems, and gradually transitioning from the control of energy to the control of carbon emissions.

The region will comprehensively promote clean and efficient energy use and establish several environmentally friendly industrial parks and demonstration bases.

According to the report, in 2023, Ningxia accelerated its ecological and environmental governance pace, completing afforesting, planting grass, and combating desertification on over 250,000 hectares.

The proportion of days with good air quality in prefecture-level cities remained above 80 percent.

Prefecture-level cities have fully covered waste incineration power generation and automatic urban noise monitoring.

In 2023, the region built 172 environmentally friendly industrial parks, factories and mines.

The proportion of new energy installed capacity in the region reached 51 percent, with a utilization rate of 97 percent, making Ningxia the first province in the country where the amount of new energy generated exceeds the total local electricity consumption.