Environmental Protection
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-06-05 10:27
Conclusion
The Chinese government and the Chinese people have made great efforts to
protect the environment. But the Chinese government is fully aware of the grave
situation of environmental protection in China, because the country is now at a
stage of accelerated industrialization and urbanization when the contradiction
between economic growth and environmental protection is particularly prominent.
In some regions environmental pollution and ecological deterioration are still
very serious. The discharge of major pollutants has surpassed the sustaining
capacity of the environment. Water, land and soil pollution is serious, and
pollution caused by solid wastes, motor vehicle emission and not easily
degradable organic matter is increasing. In the first 20 years of the new
century, China's population will keep growing, and its total economic volume
will quadruple that of 2000. As the demand on resources from economic and social
development is increasing, environmental protection is facing greater pressure
than ever before.
Facing the mounting pressure on resources and the
environment, the Chinese government has set forth the idea of taking the
scientific outlook on development as the guiding principle for overall economic
and social development. It calls for China to quicken its pace of building a
resources-efficient, environmentally-friendly society, and to promote the
harmonious development of man and nature. The Chinese government has placed
resources saving and environmental protection in an important strategic position
as it works out the country's development goals. In the 11th Five-Year Program
for Economic and Social Development (2006-2010), China has clearly set forth its
main goals for environmental protection for the next five years: By 2010, while
the national economy will maintain a relatively stable and fast growth, the
environmental quality of key regions and cities will be improved, and the trend
toward ecological deterioration will be brought under control. Energy
consumption per unit of GDP will decline by 20 percent compared with the end of
the Tenth Five-Year Plan period. The total amount of major pollutants discharged
will be reduced by ten percent, and forest coverage will be raised from 18.2
percent to 20 percent.
To achieve these goals, the Chinese government
will make sure that the tasks to prevent and control water and air pollution are
completed. It will strengthen the environmental protection of urban and rural
areas and the protection of the eco-environment and ensure the safety of the
nuclear and radioactive environments. It will undertake the key tasks of
building national environmental protection projects and promote environmental
protection work in an all-round way. The Chinese government will mobilize all
forces available to solve the pollution problems that are causing serious harm
to people's health. Its overriding task in the control and prevention of
environmental pollution is to ensure that people have access to safe drinking
water. It will take the most stringent measures to dispel potential risks of
pollution of the sources of drinking water.
To achieve this goal, the
Chinese government will actively speed up "three changes": First, change from
emphasizing economic growth but ignoring environmental protection to emphasizing
both environmental protection and economic growth; second, change from
environmental protection lagging behind economic growth to synchronizing
environmental protection and economic growth; and third, change from mainly
employing administrative measures in environmental protection to comprehensive
use of legal, economic, technical and necessary administrative measures to solve
environmental problems. Economic, social and cultural systems will be
established featuring stable economic growth, minimal cost to environmental
resources and high awareness of the environment. As regards spatial
distribution, economic growth and the sustaining capacity of the environment
will be coordinated to form development patterns with their own characteristics.
The functions of different regions will be clearly defined according to
different requirements: whether it is a preferential development region, a key
development region, a limited development region or a region where development
is prohibited. Then different regions will work out their own development
directions and goals for environmental protection. The Chinese government will
make sure that the environment is effectively protected in the course of
development, and that protective measures will in turn promote development. It
will adhere to a policy of safe, clean and resources-efficient development so as
to realize a sustainable development.
To achieve this goal, the Chinese
government will stick to the principle of all-round development with
breakthroughs in key areas. It will emphasize the principle of prevention first,
and control pollution in a comprehensive manner. It will continue working to
improve policies and legislation on environmental protection, and strictly
supervise their implementation. Management of the environment will be
strengthened according to law. Local governments' legal obligations for
environmental quality will be reinforced. Environmental access will be
tightened. Evaluation of the impact of planning and important decisions on the
environment will be strengthened, so that environmental pollution and ecological
destruction can be prevented right from the sources. It will make greater
efforts to control pollution of key drainage areas, rivers, cities and offshore
sea areas, and effectively improve the environmental quality there. Financial
input will be increased by improving the system of government, enterprises and
the general public investing in and financing environmental protection. It will
encourage people to participate in environmental protection, and strengthen
supervision by the people. China will establish an advanced environmental
monitoring and early-warning system, and a sound environmental law enforcement
and supervision system in an effort to enhance its early-warning capability in
case of environmental emergencies, and to improve its all-round environmental
supervision and management capabilities.
The importance of protecting
the global environment has become the common understanding of people all over
the world. China is a big, responsible developing country. Solving China's
environmental problems is in keeping with China's development goals. It will
contribute to the wellbeing of the 1.3 billion Chinese people, and it is also an
important manifestation of the shared interest of mankind. The Chinese
government and the Chinese people will join all other governments and peoples in
the world in protecting the Earth -- our beautiful home.
