China Daily:

General Secretary Xi Jinping highlighted that China will continue to prioritize ecological conservation and pursue a green and low-carbon path to development and also proposed peak carbon dioxide emission and carbon neutrality targets at the Leaders Summit on Climate. What experience can Guizhou share in balancing environmental protection and economic development?

Shen Yiqin:

Let's invite Mr. Li to answer your question. 

Li Bingjun:

Thank you for your question. Guizhou is a major ecological shield at the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, and it is very important to protect the ecological environment. During recent years, the ecological environment of Guizhou province has been continuously improved. However, as we all know, Guizhou is a place where karst landscapes are widely distributed, and it is also a plateau area, which is very difficult to repair once it is damaged. General Secretary Xi Jinping asked Guizhou to adhere to the two bottom lines of ensuring development and ecological progress, and repeatedly told us not to let down our guard. During his inspection tour in Guizhou ahead of this year's Spring Festival, Xi gave the important direction of pursuing new achievements in ecological conservation, which not only affirmed the achievements Guizhou has made in the previous period, but also put forward new hopes and requirements. We have firmly implemented Xi's requirements and have adhered to the two bottom lines of ensuring development and ecological progress. We have made our efforts in the following two aspects:

On one hand, we have unswervingly promoted green development and transformation. Bearing in mind the principle of fighting against pollution and guarding the green threshold, we have promoted the high-end, green and intensive development of industries. We boosted the green transformation of traditional industries, environment-friendly emerging industries and specialty industries that represent advantages of ecological environment. We made all-out efforts to improve the energy mix, among which clean energy accounts for 52.9%, 8.1 percentage points higher than the national average. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption per unit of GDP of Guizhou province dropped by 24.3%, with the decline ranking among the highest in the country. The proportion of the green economy rose by 9 percentage points. Today's Guizhou enjoys stronger new drivers of growth. It has not only been developing rapidly but also seen an improved structure and quality of development.

On the other hand, we have unswervingly strengthened environmental protection and ecological conservation. We bear in mind that environmental protection is one of the country's top priorities, so we have resolutely tackled pollution and resolved acute environmental problems, and have accelerated the rectification of problems based on the feedback from central ecological and environmental protection inspectors. We have earnestly implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions and requirements on stepping up the conservation of the Yangtze River and stopping its overdevelopment, and have accelerated the ecological governance of the Wujiang River and Chishui River. The water quality of all our major rivers' outbound flow at provincial borders is well maintained and more than 100 billion cubic meters of high-quality water is delivered to the Yangtze River and Pearl River every year. The Yangtze River system and Pearl River system closely link Guizhou with the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. We also vigorously implemented action plans to construct a green Guizhou and other ecological projects, with our forest coverage rate increasing by 20 percentage points in the past decade and the area of rocky desertification decreasing dramatically. The forest coverage rate has exceeded 61%. As one of the first batch of national pilot zones for ecological conservation and the only one in western China, Guizhou vigorously promoted systematic institutional innovation to develop an ecological civilization and 30 reform experiences have been disseminated across the board. The good environment, which has become the biggest development advantage and competitive edge of Guizhou province, is a vivid example of Xi's thought on ecological civilization, and a vivid interpretation of the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets!

Building an ecological civilization is a national project of millennial significance. We will keep General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions of pursuing development and ecological conservation in mind, shoulder our share of the responsibilities of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, prioritize ecological conservation and pursue green development. We will unswervingly implement the strategic action plan of developing a sound eco-environment, and integrate the concept of ecological civilization into the whole process and all aspects of new industrialization, new urbanization, agricultural modernization and tourism industrialization. We will promote the eco-industry and ecological industrialization, continue to work hard to protect the environment, and further open up the channel of two-way transformation between "lucid waters and lush mountains" and "invaluable assets" to build an inexhaustible green treasure house for Guizhou people and a sustainable ecological bank for future generations.

Friends from the media, since 2009, Guizhou has successfully held 10 Eco-Forum Global annual conferences, which received two congratulatory letters from General Secretary Xi Jinping. The forum has become an important platform to disseminate Xi Jinping thought on eco-civilization and showcase the achievements of China's ecological conservation efforts. Inspecting Guizhou ahead of this year's Spring Festival, General Secretary Xi Jinping renewed his instruction that the forum must be a success. In July, we will host this year's annual conference in Guiyang. I'd like to welcome you all to the conference to discuss eco-civilization and draw up a blueprint for green development. Thank you.