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In 2020, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued guidelines to make systematic arrangements for building a modern environmental governance system. Is that relevant to modernizing China's system and capacity for governance? What contents are included, and what progress has been made? What efforts will be made in the next step? Thank you.

Ye Min:

Thank you for your question. The environmental governance system is an important component of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and is also an important institutional guarantee for achieving the goal of a beautiful China. In 2020, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Building a Modern Environmental Governance System,” which set forth the basic contents of the modern environmental governance system for the first time.

In recent years, all regions and departments have earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and delivered some results. Next, I will introduce the main highlights.

First, ensure that the responsibilities of the Party and the government are properly assumed. The central and provincial governments have formulated their own lists of responsibilities for ecological and environmental protection, and the governments at all levels report annually to the people's congresses at the same level and provincial governments to the State Council on the completion of ecological and environmental goals and tasks. The CPC Central Committee evaluates the performance of the provincial Party committees and governments in the fight against pollution, and continues to strengthen the central ecological and environmental protection supervision. All provinces have also established a provincial environmental protection supervision system. These measures have effectively ensured that the Party and the government take the same responsibilities, and one post has dual responsibility.

Second, strengthen the rule of law in the ecological and environmental field. Since the advent of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), we have formulated and amended 13 laws and 17 sets of administrative regulations on addressing air, water, and soil pollution. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress inspects law enforcement in the field of ecological environment every year, has basically completed the reform in comprehensive administrative enforcement for the law of the environment, strengthens the connection between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, enhances punishment, and maintains a tough stance on violations.

Third, improve the market mechanism. The national carbon emission trading market launched online trading. The Yangtze River and the Yellow River have established a horizontal compensation mechanism for the ecological protection of the entire basin. We have established a national green development fund. According to statistics, green finance and taxation play a bigger role, as outstanding green credits had increased to 15.9 trillion yuan by the end of 2021.

Fourth, define the responsibilities of businesses. We have included more than 3.3 million fixed pollution sources across the country into pollutant discharge management, and released the “Comprehensive Directory of Environmental Protection (2021 version)” and the “Plan of the Reform in the Environmental Information Disclosure System” to guide low-carbon and green transformation and development of enterprises.

Fifth, promote people’s action and awareness. We have released documents to improve people’s action and awareness to protect the environment and promote a green lifestyle.

Looking into the goal of building a beautiful China by 2035, we still face the daunting task of improving the environmental governance system to reduce pollution and carbon while increasing synergy and efficiency in the battle against pollution. The next step is to further consolidate the responsibility of local ecological and environmental protection and improve the vertical management system of monitoring, supervision, and law enforcement of ecological and environmental institutions below the provincial level. Second, we will continue to strengthen corporate environmental governance responsibilities and implement the pollutant discharge permit management system in accordance with the law. Third, strengthen social supervision and continue to open more environmental protection facilities to the public. Fourth, strengthen the market system, innovate the mode of environmental governance, and stimulate the enthusiasm of market players.

Thank you.