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What the Beijingers were most eager for over the last two months might be blue skies and clean air. At the beginning of the year， more than 1 million square km in east China were blanketed by heavy smog. Beijing enjoyed only five days of respite from hazardous weather in January. The hazardous smog once again reminds Chinese people and officials of the continual worsening of the natural environment following the last several decades of rapid development.
In his report to the opening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last November， Hu Jintao， General Secretary of the Party’s 17th Central Committee， gave high priority to making ecological progress and incorporating it into the whole process of advancing economic， political， cultural， and social growth. The report also introduced the concept of building a“beautiful country.”
But how far is China from attaining this lofty goal？ During the annual full session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） in Beijing on March 3-12， the question became one of the hottest topics for political advisors from all walks of life.
Facing the reality
“A good natural environment is essential to a well-off society，” said Gao Jixi， Director of the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences in Jiangsu Province. “That is to say， the people should also have a nice living environment while our country becomes prosperous.”
Wang Wenbiao， President of the Elion Resources Group in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， said， “I hope China in the future is a country full of blue sky， green lands， clear water and clean air.”
Speaking of a “beautiful country，” most CPPCC National Committee members expressed similar ideas.
However， the current reality in China is not as satisfying. The seemingly ubiquitous pollution in air， water and soil， the worsening city waste crisis， as well as resource exhaustion， make the public feel anxious.
Pan Biling， Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Department of Hunan Province， has long kept a watchful eye on water pollution in the province. “The groundwater of some villages in Hunan is severely polluted， therefore， no local resident has passed the physical examination for military service in the last 10 years，” Pan said. “Many villages are not the ‘pure land’ as we thought before， but all the food， vegetables and fruits people eat are produced in villages.” Figures provided by Sun Taili， President of the Tianjin Qingda Group， show that of the 131 rivers flowing through cities in China， 36 are severely contaminated， 21 are heavily polluted and 38 are moderately affected. Water of the contaminated rivers permeates underground sources.
Sun also pays much attention to soil pollution. Accordingly， the consumption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides per unit of cultivated area in China is much higher than the global average. In addition to resulting in the hardening and poisoning of soil， their residue would also seep into the ground.
City waste is another major environmental concern. He Wei， President of private He’s University in Liaoning Province， said that the per-capita annual trash output of Chinese citizens is about 440 kg. That is to say that the total annual trash output of China has reached 400 million tons， ranking first world- wide， and the figure is growing by 8 to 10 percent each year.
What is more， the accumulated quantity of garbage over the years has reached 6 billion tons. More than 200 cities are circled by garbage， with about 50，000 hectares of land covered with refuse. Waste collection， sorting and treatment infrastructure are still developing slowly.
Ge Jianxiong， a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai， said， “Since the beginning of the 21st century， the living conditions of Chinese people have improved remarkably， but their dream of a beautiful habitat seems out of reach.”
New road
Though there are some irresistible natural causes for the environmental problems， the main reason for pollution still lies in man-made factors， Gao said.
According to Zhang Yunling， a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， the cost of China being the world’s factory is high consumption of resources and severe pollution. “We exported a large amount of clean products to the world， but we’re left with all the murky water and dirty air at home.”
Ning Chongrui， chief architect of Lanzhou Engineering and Research Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy Co. Ltd. in Gansu Province， said that China should change the current economic development model in view of the severe damage it has brought to the environment and climate.
Zhang Jiyao， former Director of the State Council South-to-North Water Diversion Office， said that excess production capacity， unreasonable energy infrastructure and highly energy- consuming lifestyles are the main reasons for smoggy weather. “We have paid a high price for ignoring environmental protection during economic development，” Zhang said. “Now we should pay great attention to sustainable development.”
“The pollution in east China is much more severe than in the west， which also reflects the imbalance in the country’s economic development，” said Zhang.
“We have chosen the industrialization road of the West， and our lifestyle is also unconsciously influenced by materialism， which eventually bring a great environmental burden，”said Zhang Yunling. “We need to regain the Chinese tradition of thrift.”
He， also a member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party， calls as well for green lifestyles. “For instance， over-packaged and disposable goods are a major waste of resources at a big cost to the environment，” he said， adding promoting resources recycling is the right and efficient way for environmental protection and sustainable development.
Most CPPCC National Committee members agree that environmental legislation is another important basis for abating pollution and building a beautiful country.
He said， “Promoting ecological progress needs institutional guarantees. Though China has enacted a series of laws and regulations concerning environmental protection， their guiding principles are relatively lagging and lack operability. To keep up with social progress， the laws and regulations should be revised.”
Sun proposes a quicker action in legislating underground water protection. In the meantime， he said that the government should increase investment in water-quality monitoring and release relevant data regularly. “Those enterprises and individuals that pollute water sources should be punished in strict accordance with the law，” Sun said， adding calls for revision of the law on air quality protection as well.
This year， Shi Jie， Vice President of Sichuan Province Lawyers Association， submitted proposals calling for revision of environmental protection laws， particularly those relating to air and water. He hopes that the revision of those laws could impose harsher penalties on enterprises and individuals damaging the environment.
Gao claims that to a great extent， current environmental problems are related to an irrational industrial structure. “As the current development model of China relies too much on land resources， damage to the environment is inevitable，” Gao said. “To change the situation， high-grade and advanced technologies are needed to increase productivity per unit of land. When most of the land is left for nature， the environment will become much better.” Liu Zhibiao， President of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences， echoed Gao’s remarks. “To resolve environmental problems at the source， China should further advance its level of development and readjust the economic structure，” he said.
Liu suggests that China should implement an economic globalization strategy based on boosting domestic demand. Taking advantage of this， the country can siphon worldwide highclass production factors to advance its industrial level and develop an innovation-driven economy. From there， China can build a modern industrial system dominated by hi-tech and emerging strategic industries， and a healthier industrial structure dominated by a modern service industry.
Zhang Jiyao said that China should be determined to shut down highly polluting and energy-consuming enterprises and those with excess production capacity or no ability for structural transformation.
“Education in rural areas is also a key factor for building a beautiful country，” said Gao， who is also a member of China Zhi Gong Party. “On one hand， education helps villagers enhance environmental awareness，” Gao said， adding that improving rural education is also one of the important bases for industrial restructuring.
Shi calls for greater public participation in building a beautiful country. “The government should attract and absorb more non-governmental organizations and individuals to join in the environmental protection campaign，” Shi said.
The lawyer claims that China should strive to develop environment-friendly public goods， paying particular attention to speeding up the development of rail transportation and electric buses， which are carbon-conserving.
Huang Youyi， Vice President and editor in chief of the China International Publishing Group， advocates international exchanges and learning from the valuable experiences of other countries as China strives to build a beautiful country. “There are many effective measures for the country to learn from foreign countries that have completed industrialization，” Huang said.
“The Chinese Government has established many binding targets in energy conservation and emissions reduction， and have made notable progress in achieving the targets，” Huang added. “But as China is still in the rapid development stage of industrialization and urbanization， it is impossible for emissions to decrease immediately.”
Action
In addition to making proposals， many CPPCC National Committee members have contributed a lot to the building of an environmentfriendly society. For Pan， also a member of the China Association for Promoting Democracy， one major duty is promoting environmental protection knowledge in rural areas.
Pan’s team compiled a series of environmental protection brochures and donated them to rural primary and secondary schools， to help instill fundamental environment awareness among local residents. From 2010 to 2012， Hunan Province， where Pan works， has invested 2.28 billion yuan （$368 million） for environmental improvement in rural areas， benefiting about 2.3 million people in 1，046 villages.
Gao， an expert on soil protection， is working on a project extending “red lines”—policy jargon for a range of legally acceptable minimums， maximums and binding targets—across China’s socio-environmental map.
“The ‘red line’ can be seen as one of the bases for building a beautiful country，” Gao said.“This way， China can promote ecological protection for later generations.”
It could also help the country build a benign ecological pattern to support its sustainable social and economic development， Gao added. At present， a trial of the project is being conducted in Jiangxi and Hubei provinces and Inner Mongolia and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous regions.
From the economic perspective， the restoration of desert ecology is not cost-effective for most investors as it needs large investment as well as a longer cycle for making profit.
Ecology is invaluable to Elion’s Wang， as evinced by the anti-desertification efforts of his company. “Elion thus far has afforested about 5，000 square meters of desert，” said Wang，“which is not only helping ecological restoration in Inner Mongolia but also helping to suppress sandstorms.”
Since 1997， Elion has built 500 km of roads across Hobq Desert in Inner Mongolia， the seventh biggest desert in China. The company has also covered an area of 1，500 square km with pharmaceutical crops such as licorice and sand willow， producing 4 billion yuan （$645 million） of medicines.
In the meantime， the forest and grass Elion planted have sequestered about 10 million tons of carbon. The Seven Star Lake， which lies deep in the desert， has become a tourist attraction. Currently， Elion is striving to develop modern water-saving organic agriculture in cooperation with Israeli partners.
“Now Elion aims to expand the ecological protection area of the desert to 10，000 square meters in three to five years， which will also set an example of anti-desertification efforts for the whole nation，” Wang said.
In his report to the opening of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last November， Hu Jintao， General Secretary of the Party’s 17th Central Committee， gave high priority to making ecological progress and incorporating it into the whole process of advancing economic， political， cultural， and social growth. The report also introduced the concept of building a“beautiful country.”
But how far is China from attaining this lofty goal？ During the annual full session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） in Beijing on March 3-12， the question became one of the hottest topics for political advisors from all walks of life.
Facing the reality
“A good natural environment is essential to a well-off society，” said Gao Jixi， Director of the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences in Jiangsu Province. “That is to say， the people should also have a nice living environment while our country becomes prosperous.”
Wang Wenbiao， President of the Elion Resources Group in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， said， “I hope China in the future is a country full of blue sky， green lands， clear water and clean air.”
Speaking of a “beautiful country，” most CPPCC National Committee members expressed similar ideas.
However， the current reality in China is not as satisfying. The seemingly ubiquitous pollution in air， water and soil， the worsening city waste crisis， as well as resource exhaustion， make the public feel anxious.
Pan Biling， Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Department of Hunan Province， has long kept a watchful eye on water pollution in the province. “The groundwater of some villages in Hunan is severely polluted， therefore， no local resident has passed the physical examination for military service in the last 10 years，” Pan said. “Many villages are not the ‘pure land’ as we thought before， but all the food， vegetables and fruits people eat are produced in villages.” Figures provided by Sun Taili， President of the Tianjin Qingda Group， show that of the 131 rivers flowing through cities in China， 36 are severely contaminated， 21 are heavily polluted and 38 are moderately affected. Water of the contaminated rivers permeates underground sources.
Sun also pays much attention to soil pollution. Accordingly， the consumption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides per unit of cultivated area in China is much higher than the global average. In addition to resulting in the hardening and poisoning of soil， their residue would also seep into the ground.
City waste is another major environmental concern. He Wei， President of private He’s University in Liaoning Province， said that the per-capita annual trash output of Chinese citizens is about 440 kg. That is to say that the total annual trash output of China has reached 400 million tons， ranking first world- wide， and the figure is growing by 8 to 10 percent each year.
What is more， the accumulated quantity of garbage over the years has reached 6 billion tons. More than 200 cities are circled by garbage， with about 50，000 hectares of land covered with refuse. Waste collection， sorting and treatment infrastructure are still developing slowly.
Ge Jianxiong， a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai， said， “Since the beginning of the 21st century， the living conditions of Chinese people have improved remarkably， but their dream of a beautiful habitat seems out of reach.”
New road
Though there are some irresistible natural causes for the environmental problems， the main reason for pollution still lies in man-made factors， Gao said.
According to Zhang Yunling， a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， the cost of China being the world’s factory is high consumption of resources and severe pollution. “We exported a large amount of clean products to the world， but we’re left with all the murky water and dirty air at home.”
Ning Chongrui， chief architect of Lanzhou Engineering and Research Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy Co. Ltd. in Gansu Province， said that China should change the current economic development model in view of the severe damage it has brought to the environment and climate.
Zhang Jiyao， former Director of the State Council South-to-North Water Diversion Office， said that excess production capacity， unreasonable energy infrastructure and highly energy- consuming lifestyles are the main reasons for smoggy weather. “We have paid a high price for ignoring environmental protection during economic development，” Zhang said. “Now we should pay great attention to sustainable development.”
“The pollution in east China is much more severe than in the west， which also reflects the imbalance in the country’s economic development，” said Zhang.
“We have chosen the industrialization road of the West， and our lifestyle is also unconsciously influenced by materialism， which eventually bring a great environmental burden，”said Zhang Yunling. “We need to regain the Chinese tradition of thrift.”
He， also a member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party， calls as well for green lifestyles. “For instance， over-packaged and disposable goods are a major waste of resources at a big cost to the environment，” he said， adding promoting resources recycling is the right and efficient way for environmental protection and sustainable development.
Most CPPCC National Committee members agree that environmental legislation is another important basis for abating pollution and building a beautiful country.
He said， “Promoting ecological progress needs institutional guarantees. Though China has enacted a series of laws and regulations concerning environmental protection， their guiding principles are relatively lagging and lack operability. To keep up with social progress， the laws and regulations should be revised.”
Sun proposes a quicker action in legislating underground water protection. In the meantime， he said that the government should increase investment in water-quality monitoring and release relevant data regularly. “Those enterprises and individuals that pollute water sources should be punished in strict accordance with the law，” Sun said， adding calls for revision of the law on air quality protection as well.
This year， Shi Jie， Vice President of Sichuan Province Lawyers Association， submitted proposals calling for revision of environmental protection laws， particularly those relating to air and water. He hopes that the revision of those laws could impose harsher penalties on enterprises and individuals damaging the environment.
Gao claims that to a great extent， current environmental problems are related to an irrational industrial structure. “As the current development model of China relies too much on land resources， damage to the environment is inevitable，” Gao said. “To change the situation， high-grade and advanced technologies are needed to increase productivity per unit of land. When most of the land is left for nature， the environment will become much better.” Liu Zhibiao， President of the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences， echoed Gao’s remarks. “To resolve environmental problems at the source， China should further advance its level of development and readjust the economic structure，” he said.
Liu suggests that China should implement an economic globalization strategy based on boosting domestic demand. Taking advantage of this， the country can siphon worldwide highclass production factors to advance its industrial level and develop an innovation-driven economy. From there， China can build a modern industrial system dominated by hi-tech and emerging strategic industries， and a healthier industrial structure dominated by a modern service industry.
Zhang Jiyao said that China should be determined to shut down highly polluting and energy-consuming enterprises and those with excess production capacity or no ability for structural transformation.
“Education in rural areas is also a key factor for building a beautiful country，” said Gao， who is also a member of China Zhi Gong Party. “On one hand， education helps villagers enhance environmental awareness，” Gao said， adding that improving rural education is also one of the important bases for industrial restructuring.
Shi calls for greater public participation in building a beautiful country. “The government should attract and absorb more non-governmental organizations and individuals to join in the environmental protection campaign，” Shi said.
The lawyer claims that China should strive to develop environment-friendly public goods， paying particular attention to speeding up the development of rail transportation and electric buses， which are carbon-conserving.
Huang Youyi， Vice President and editor in chief of the China International Publishing Group， advocates international exchanges and learning from the valuable experiences of other countries as China strives to build a beautiful country. “There are many effective measures for the country to learn from foreign countries that have completed industrialization，” Huang said.
“The Chinese Government has established many binding targets in energy conservation and emissions reduction， and have made notable progress in achieving the targets，” Huang added. “But as China is still in the rapid development stage of industrialization and urbanization， it is impossible for emissions to decrease immediately.”
Action
In addition to making proposals， many CPPCC National Committee members have contributed a lot to the building of an environmentfriendly society. For Pan， also a member of the China Association for Promoting Democracy， one major duty is promoting environmental protection knowledge in rural areas.
Pan’s team compiled a series of environmental protection brochures and donated them to rural primary and secondary schools， to help instill fundamental environment awareness among local residents. From 2010 to 2012， Hunan Province， where Pan works， has invested 2.28 billion yuan （$368 million） for environmental improvement in rural areas， benefiting about 2.3 million people in 1，046 villages.
Gao， an expert on soil protection， is working on a project extending “red lines”—policy jargon for a range of legally acceptable minimums， maximums and binding targets—across China’s socio-environmental map.
“The ‘red line’ can be seen as one of the bases for building a beautiful country，” Gao said.“This way， China can promote ecological protection for later generations.”
It could also help the country build a benign ecological pattern to support its sustainable social and economic development， Gao added. At present， a trial of the project is being conducted in Jiangxi and Hubei provinces and Inner Mongolia and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous regions.
From the economic perspective， the restoration of desert ecology is not cost-effective for most investors as it needs large investment as well as a longer cycle for making profit.
Ecology is invaluable to Elion’s Wang， as evinced by the anti-desertification efforts of his company. “Elion thus far has afforested about 5，000 square meters of desert，” said Wang，“which is not only helping ecological restoration in Inner Mongolia but also helping to suppress sandstorms.”
Since 1997， Elion has built 500 km of roads across Hobq Desert in Inner Mongolia， the seventh biggest desert in China. The company has also covered an area of 1，500 square km with pharmaceutical crops such as licorice and sand willow， producing 4 billion yuan （$645 million） of medicines.
In the meantime， the forest and grass Elion planted have sequestered about 10 million tons of carbon. The Seven Star Lake， which lies deep in the desert， has become a tourist attraction. Currently， Elion is striving to develop modern water-saving organic agriculture in cooperation with Israeli partners.
“Now Elion aims to expand the ecological protection area of the desert to 10，000 square meters in three to five years， which will also set an example of anti-desertification efforts for the whole nation，” Wang said.