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Monday, June 05, 2017, 23:22
China strives for cleaner environment amid development shift
By Xinhua
Monday, June 05, 2017, 23:22 By Xinhua

This May 15, 2016 photo shows a green energy base in Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, which provides both wind and solar power. (Tian Yiwei / Xinhua)

BEIJING – The vast Qilian mountain range in northwest China is starting to heal from decades of over exploitation under the largest ecological restoration campaign in more than half a century.

Illegal mines and unlicensed hydropower plants were closed, sewage treatment monitoring increased, tourism construction halted, over 90 percent of environmental violations were corrected – all as a result of a Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) campaign which began more than a year ago, according to local authorities in Zhangye of Gansu Province.

The Qilian Mountains stretching the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai have long been designated a significant shelter helping to protect the ecological balance in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, blocking the invasion of the northern desert.

Rivers, along which more than five million people reside, depend on the snow and glaciers on the mountains for water. But excessive and disorderly development since the 1960s had put the area in deep crisis, with water sources getting contaminated and grassland degraded, until officials moved to tackle environmental problems.

Despite the progress, the situation still remains grim and more efforts are needed, according to an MEP inspection.

China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65% from 2005 levels by 2030 and raise the share of non-fossil energy use in total consumption to about 20%

The inspection pointed out illicit mining and hydropower projects that still exist across the region.

In response, local officials promised that all man-made pollution and disruption will stop by the end of 2017.

Qilian represents the country's ongoing shift from GDP obsession to a more balanced growth philosophy that puts equal, if not greater, emphasis on the natural environment.

More energy has been channeled to cleaning up the economy, which had long been powered by polluting heavy industries. Stricter rules were imposed on both factories and officials, and violations received tougher penalties.

The MEP has expanded its inspections to include greenhouse gas emissions and energy saving, covering more areas, including smog-shrouded northern Beijing-Tianjin--Hebei and the less-developed northwest.

The former minister of environmental protection, Chen Jining, said earlier this year that more than 6,400 officials had been held accountable during inspections in 16 provinces.

"All 31 provinces will be covered this year to prompt local governments to fulfill their duties," he said.

"Modern industrialization was pushed forward when we were unaware of the capacity of the environment in the world, which resulted in an ecological crisis," said Qiao Qingju, a professor with the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In its drive for stellar economic success, China was confronted by serious environmental issues, some still lingering.

During a CPC meeting last month, policymakers agreed that China should firmly reject development models that damaged or destroyed the environment, and bade farewell to practices that boosted short-term economic growth at the cost of the environment.

On Monday, China’s theme for the 46th World Environment Day was "Clear waters and lush mountains as valuable as gold and silver."

The push for a more sustainable growth path has been steadily advancing for years.

More local governments have scrapped GDP-obsessed assessments in evaluations and given environmental issues higher weighting.

While glutted and polluting industries have been downsized, high-tech and green sectors are being given stronger support, including for electric cars, energy saving and emissions reduction.

The energy mix has also been improved, with less coal-burning plants and more solar energy and hydropower stations; China has become the largest renewable energy market in the world.

While US President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, China has stayed firm.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said China would remain committed to upholding and promoting global governance on climate change and take an active part in the multilateral process.

China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and raise the share of non-fossil energy use in total consumption to about 20 percent.

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