China's achievements in environmental protection "unprecedented": official

Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie speaks at a press conference held by the press center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, capital of China, October 23, 2017. The press conference was themed on pursuing green development and building beautiful China. [Photo: Xinhua/Li Xin]

China's Minister of Environmental Protection, Li Ganjie, describes the achievements and efforts that have been made in environmental protection in China as "unprecedented" on the sidelines of the ongoing CPC National Congress.

"China has been implementing three action plans in the fight against air, water and soil pollution. Infrastructure construction for waste water and garbage disposal has also seen remarkable progress. China has also been upgrading coal-burning thermal power units with ultra-low emission technology, and so far has completed 570 million kilowatts," says Li.

He also notes that over 18 million vehicles failing to meet exhaust emission standards have been pulled from the roads, and suggests projects to protect and restore local ecosystems have also been going well.

The minister says China's overall environment has seen significant improvements, particularly in high-population areas.

"In 2016, the average density of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas, has decreased by more than 30 percent since the action plan on curbing air pollution was launched in 2013. Areas suffering from acid rain only account for 7.2 percent of the total surface area of China last year, which is down from around 30 percent in 2013," says Li.

Despite the progress, Yang Weimin, vice chief of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, admits there is still a lot of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to getting the corporate world in China involved in fighting pollution.

Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, speaks at a press conference held by the press center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing, capital of China, October 23, 2017. The press conference was themed on pursuing green development and building beautiful China. [Photo: Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei]

"Although supervision from the government has been strengthened over the past few years, the market's impact is still not sufficient enough. Our incentive mechanisms have yet to be fully established. One of the focuses of reforms in the future will be a mechanism guaranteeing that companies don't lose money in limiting their pollution," says Yang.

Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Minister Li Ganjie rebuffs suggestions the environmental crackdown is stifling business.

"On one hand, we take a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to companies illegally polluting the environment, and we punish them severely in accordance with the laws and regulations. But on the other hand, we also look at regulations based on each company's own conditions, under the principle of making concrete analysis for a concrete problem," says Li.

He also contends there is a "positive correlation" between building an ecological civilization and achieving economic growth, saying that enhancing environmental protection does not have a negative impact on a local economy, nor its employment.

Chinese President and general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, in his address to the opening of the 19th CPC National Congress, stressed the creation of an ecological mindset that will help achieve a goal of building a "Beautiful China" by 2035.