Over the past 75 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has continuously deepened its understanding of the laws governing ecological civilization construction and promoted harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in particular, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has regarded ecological civilization construction as a fundamental task related to the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, planning and carrying out a series of fundamental, pioneering, and far-reaching initiatives. China's path toward ecological civilization has become increasingly firm and broad, continuously creating new green miracles across the land of China.

Consolidating the Nation's Ecological Security Barrier

This summer, on the banks of the Cangtou River in Youyu County, Shanxi Province, more than 30 mu of collective forest land in Hongqikou Village is lush with greenery. Tourists set up tents to enjoy the beauty of the green ecology.

In the early days of the People's Republic of China, Youyu County, located on the edge of the Mu Us Desert, had a forest coverage rate of less than 0.3%, and the people suffered from wind and sand. For more than 70 years, the cadres and people of Youyu County have continuously planted trees, increasing the forest coverage rate to 57% and transforming the "barren land" into a "green oasis." The former sandy land has not only produced greenery but also a better life for the local people.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the national forest coverage rate was only 8.6%, and wind and sand, soil erosion, etc., affected people's production and life. In the 1950s, the Party and the state attached great importance to afforestation and called for "greening the motherland".

In 1978, the Party Central Committee and the State Council made a strategic decision to build large-scale protective forests in key areas affected by wind and sand and soil erosion in Northwest, North China, and Northeast China. This project, spanning 73 years and divided into three phases and eight stages, aimed to build a vast green Great Wall in northern China.

Over more than 40 years, the "Three-North" Shelter Forest Program has completed afforestation of 480 million mu, and the treatment of 1.28 billion mu of degraded grassland. The forest coverage rate has increased from 5.05% in 1978 to 13.84%, and the key areas have achieved a historical transformation from "sand advancing and people retreating" to "greenery advancing and sand retreating".

Meanwhile, projects such as the Natural Forest Protection Project and the Grain for Green Project have clothed barren mountains in splendor and transformed deserts into oases.

Today, China has taken the lead in the world in achieving "zero growth" in land degradation, and both the area of desertified land and sandy land have decreased. China's forest coverage rate has increased to 24.02%, making it a major contributor to global "greening".

Over the past 75 years, the relationship between humans and nature has been continuously reshaped, with hundreds of millions of people working tirelessly to build a beautiful homeland.

To facilitate children's participation in nature study during the summer vacation, the Dinghushan National Nature Reserve in Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, has set up a "Little Scientist Growth Path" themed nature education experience trail and a nature education exploration trail themed "Natural Forest" this year, allowing children to get closer to and understand nature.

Established in 1956, this reserve is China's first nature reserve, preserving large tracts of virgin forest and protecting biodiversity.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has gradually established nearly 10,000 nature reserves of various levels and types, including nature reserves, forest parks, scenic spots, natural heritage sites, geological parks, and marine parks.

Entering a new era, China has continued to promote the protection and restoration of ecosystems, implementing 52 integrated protection and restoration projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, carrying out solid national land greening actions, promoting a ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River, and promoting the protection and restoration of typical marine ecosystems.

Promoting the construction of a nature reserve system centered on national parks is an important deployment made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. In 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China first proposed establishing a national park system. Now, China is building the world's largest national park system.

At present, 90% of China's terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of the country's key protected wild animal and plant populations are effectively protected, humans and nature coexist harmoniously, and the ecological security barrier of the motherland is continuously strengthened.

Pollution Control Achievements Become Increasingly Prominent

September 7th is "International Clean Air Blue Sky Day." In Beijing today, people find that a casual photo can capture "beautiful blue skies" and "cartoon clouds".

China's achievements in improving air quality in recent years have been highly praised by the international community. In particular, Beijing's air pollution control efforts have been remarkable and have been hailed as the "Beijing Miracle" by the United Nations Environment Programme.

Looking back, China's environmental protection cause began to take shape after the founding of the People's Republic of China and officially began in the 1970s. In 1973, the State Council held the first national environmental protection conference, and ecological environmental protection began to be placed on the national agenda.

Reform and opening up stimulated development vitality, but while China's rapid economic development achieved tremendous success, it also accumulated a large number of ecological and environmental problems, which for a period of time became a social problem and a source of public concern.

From establishing environmental protection as a basic national policy, to implementing a sustainable development strategy, and then to building a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly society, the strategic position of ecological environmental protection has been continuously enhanced. In response to ecological and environmental challenges, the state has invested a large amount of funds and scientific research resources, focusing on the treatment of the three major lakes of Taihu, Chaohu, and Dianchi, and vigorously tackling pollution problems such as acid rain.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has led hundreds of millions of people in a war against pollution.

In 2013, the "Air Ten Measures"—the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control—was introduced. China became the first developing country in the world to launch a large-scale PM2.5 control program.

In cities, buses no longer leave black exhaust trails, and new energy vehicles are accelerating; in rural areas, tens of millions of households in northern China have abandoned scattered coal heating and adopted cleaner heating methods; in factories, ultra-low emission transformations have made coal-fired power plants cleaner, building the world's largest clean coal-fired power generation base...

After continuous efforts, in 2023, a total of 203 cities nationwide met air quality standards, accounting for about 60%. Blue skies and white clouds have become the norm, and China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality globally.

In 2022, the total investment in national environmental pollution control reached 901.4 billion yuan, while in the early 1980s, it was only 2.5 to 3 billion yuan per year.

The appearance of rivers and lakes has undergone fundamental improvements, and the proportion of surface water with good water quality has approached the level of developed countries. In 2023, the water quality of the Yangtze River main stream has maintained Class II for four consecutive years, and the Yellow River main stream for two consecutive years.

Soil environmental risks have been effectively controlled, and homes have become healthier and more beautiful. Promoting the classification of household waste, improving the centralized collection and disposal capacity of urban and rural household waste, reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and achieving the goal of "zero import" of solid waste as scheduled.

With bluer skies, clearer waters, and cleaner land, the quality of the ecological environment continues to improve, and the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security is constantly increasing.

The ecological and environmental protection policy and institutional system is constantly being improved

On September 10 this year, the draft National Park Law was submitted for the first time to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation. This is the first time that China has enacted a special law on national parks at the national level.

Legal systems are an important force in protecting green mountains and clear waters. After decades of exploration, China's socialist system of ecological and environmental protection with Chinese characteristics and the institutional system of the nature of the "four pillars and eight columns" of ecological civilization have basically taken shape.

From the first inclusion of "the state shall protect the environment and natural resources, and prevent pollution and other public hazards" in the Constitution in 1978 to the passage of the Environmental Protection Law in 1989, ecological and environmental protection work has gradually entered the track of the rule of law.

Entering the 21st century, the state has promulgated a series of environmental protection laws, natural resource laws, environmental protection administrative regulations, environmental protection departmental rules and regulations, local environmental regulations and local government regulations, etc.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has required the protection of the ecological environment with the strictest systems and the strictest rule of law, and the ecological and environmental protection policy system has been continuously improved.

Formulate and revise the Environmental Protection Law and more than 30 ecological and environmental laws and regulations. In particular, the revised Environmental Protection Law of 2014 introduced measures such as continuous daily fines, seizure and detention, production restrictions and shutdowns, administrative detention, and public interest litigation, and was hailed as the "strictest ever" environmental protection law. Today, the ecological and environmental protection legal system has covered pollution prevention and control in areas such as air, water, soil, and noise, as well as important ecosystems and elements such as the Yangtze River, wetlands, and black land, and the ecological and environmental legal system has been improved.

Issuing and implementing "Opinions on Accelerating the Advancement of Ecological Civilization Construction", "Overall Plan for Ecological Civilization System Reform" and dozens of specific reform plans, gradually establishing a natural resource asset property rights system, a national land space development and protection system, a spatial planning system, a resource total quantity management and comprehensive conservation system, a resource paid use and ecological compensation system, an environmental governance system, an environmental governance and ecological protection market system, an ecological civilization performance evaluation and assessment and accountability system, and other basic systems, the institutional system of the nature of the "four pillars and eight columns" of ecological civilization has basically taken shape.

Firmly grasping the responsibility system as the "bull's nose", establishing and implementing the ecological civilization construction target evaluation and assessment, the effectiveness assessment of the pollution prevention and control campaign, the assessment of the natural resource assets of leading cadres upon leaving office, the river and lake chief system, the forest chief system, the lifelong accountability for ecological and environmental damage, and the ecological and environmental damage compensation system, the responsibility system with the Party committee leading, the government taking the lead, enterprises as the main body, and social organizations and the public participating together is becoming more rigorous and sound, and the consciousness and initiative of the whole Party and the whole country in promoting ecological civilization construction are constantly increasing.

People do not let down the green mountains, and the green mountains will not let down the people. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made important deployments on deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system. Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, aiming at the goal of building a beautiful China, we will unswervingly and persistently create new green miracles. (Reporter Gao Jing)