Ecological Civilization related content in Chinese government report
Hi, everyone,
As I promise, I am writing to share the content related to ecological civilization in the Chinese government report formally released on Tuesday.
In the part reviewing the work of 2023, the report said:
“—The environment saw steady improvements.
Thanks to further steps to prevent and control pollution, the discharge of major pollutants continued to fall and the quality of surface water and offshore water continued to improve. The shelterbelt program in northeast, north, and northwest China entered a crucial stage. China’s installed renewable energy capacity surpassed its thermal power capacity for the first time in history, and China accounted for over half of newly installed renewable energy capacity worldwide.”
Regarding the jobs finished in 2023, the report said:
“4. We stepped up efforts to protect and improve the environment and accelerated the transition to a model of green development.
We advanced the Beautiful China Initiative and continued efforts to keep the skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean. We accelerated the implementation of major projects for protecting and restoring key ecosystems. Comprehensive prevention and treatment of soil erosion and desertification were intensified. Environmental inspection was stepped up.
Policies were adopted to support the development of green and low-carbon industries. Ultra-low emission retrofitting was carried out in key industries. Trials for peaking carbon emissions began in the first group of cities and industrial parks. China actively participated in and promoted global climate governance.”
Regarding the government’s task in 2024, the report stated:
“9. Enhancing ecological conservation and promoting green and low-carbon development
Acting on the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, we will make concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost economic growth so as to build a Beautiful China featuring harmony between humanity and nature.
We will take comprehensive steps to improve the environment.
We will further implement the action plan for continuously improving air quality, make coordinated efforts to improve water resources, aquatic environments, and aquatic ecosystems, and better prevent and control soil contamination at the source. Control and treatment of solid waste, new pollutants, and plastic pollution will be stepped up.
We will take a holistic and systematic approach to the protection and conservation of mountain, water, forest, farmland, grassland, and desert ecosystems and adopt a stronger region-specific approach to environmental management. We will make full preparations to ensure the success of the three landmark projects for the shelterbelt program in northwest, north, and northeast China, and advance the development of a system of protected areas with national parks as the mainstay.
We will promote the ecological conservation and improvement of important rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, continue to enforce the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River, and carry out major biodiversity conservation programs. We will improve the mechanisms for realizing the market value of ecosystem goods and services and the systems of compensation for ecological conservation to motivate everyone to get involved in environmental conservation and protection.
We will boost the green and low-carbon economy.
We will push forward with the green transformation of the industrial structure, the energy mix, and the transportation sector as well as urban and rural development. We will implement a comprehensive conservation strategy and accelerate efforts to upgrade water and energy conservation facilities in key sectors. We will improve fiscal, tax, financial, investment, and pricing policies in support of green development as well as relevant market-based mechanisms.
We will support the development of industries for recycling waste and used materials, encourage the R&D and application of advanced energy-saving and carbon-reducing technologies, and accelerate the development of green and low-carbon supply chains. We will launch pilot zones for the Beautiful China Initiative and foster pacesetters for green and low-carbon development.
We will actively and prudently work toward peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality.
We will carry out the 10 major initiatives for peaking carbon emissions and improve our carbon accounting and verification capacities. We will develop a carbon footprint management system and expand the coverage of the national carbon market to more sectors.
We will advance the energy revolution, tighten control over fossil fuels consumption, and work faster to develop a new energy system. We will step up the building of large-scale wind and photovoltaic power bases and transmission routes and promote the development and use of distributed energy sources. We will enhance power grids’ capacity for absorbing, distributing, and regulating clean energy and create new ways of storing energy and encourage the use and international mutual recognition of green electricity. We will see that coal and coal-fired power play their crucial role in ensuring energy supply and our energy supply meets the needs of economic and social development.”
There are also many important information related to ecological civilization in social well-being field, such as:
“Per capita disposable income of residents increased by 6.1 percent, and the income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow. The gains of poverty elimination were consolidated and expanded, with per capita income in rural areas that have been lifted out of poverty growing by 8.4 percent. We increased subsidies for compulsory education, basic old-age insurance, and basic medical insurance and expanded the coverage of assistance and support. Over 66 million taxpayers benefited from an increase in special additional deductions for individual income tax, which cover children nursing expenses, children’s education, and elderly care expenses. We redoubled efforts to renovate old urban residential compounds and develop government-subsidized housing, benefiting over 10 million households.”
“Over 33 million people lifted out of poverty found jobs last year.”
“The cap on government-subsidized student loans was raised and their interest rates were lowered, benefiting more than 11 million college students.”
“We improved comprehensive public service facilities in communities and did more to develop assisted catering services for the elderly. Benefits for entitled groups were increased. We ensured that the basic needs of people in difficulty were met. We responded effectively to major floods in the Hai River basin and other basins, carried out rescue and relief operations in the earthquake-hit Jishishan of Gansu Province and other disaster-hit areas, and supported post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts.”
“We will advance east-west cooperation and targeted assistance, increase support for key counties receiving national assistance for rural revitalization, and establish sound mechanisms to provide regular assistance to low-income rural residents and less-developed areas. With these efforts, we will further consolidate and sustain our achievements in poverty alleviation.”
“10. Ensuring and improving the people’s wellbeing and promoting better and new ways of conducting social governance
Acting on the people-centered development philosophy, we will fulfill our responsibilities to meet people’s basic needs and provide a cushion for those most in need and take more steps to deliver real benefits to the people to their satisfaction. We will make solid progress toward prosperity for all and promote social harmony and stability. By doing so, we will give our people a growing sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security.
We will take a wide range of steps to stabilize employment and increase incomes.
As employment is the most basic component of the people’s wellbeing, we will give greater priority to it. We will better leverage fiscal, tax, financial, and other policies to stabilize employment, and roll out more special policies to promote employment.
To keep employment stable, we will implement and improve policies on unemployment insurance premium refunds, special loans, and employment and social insurance subsidies, and we will provide more support to sectors and enterprises with a large capacity for creating jobs.
Over 11.7 million students are due to graduate from college this year, and we must do more to promote employment for young people and provide better guidance and services to help them secure jobs or start businesses. We will take solid steps to support ex-service members in getting settled and finding employment and work actively to ensure employment for rural migrant workers. More employment assistance will be provided to jobseekers facing difficulties in securing employment including people with disabilities.
We will improve services and assistance for people in flexible employment based on their type of employment and expand trials of occupational injury insurance for people in new forms of employment. We will take resolute steps against gender, age, and education discrimination in the workplace and ensure that the wages of rural migrant workers are paid. We will improve the consultation and mediation mechanisms for labor relations to protect the lawful rights and interests of workers.
We will enhance vocational skills training to meet job demands in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, modern services, and elderly care. We will work to increase the incomes of urban and rural residents through multiple channels, expand the size of the middle-income group, and increase the incomes of low-income earners.
We will improve medical and health services.
We will continue work to prevent and control key infectious diseases. Government subsidies for basic medical insurance for rural and non-working urban residents will increase by an average of 30 yuan per person.
We will promote the coordinated development and management of medical insurance, medical services, and pharmaceuticals. We will advance the unified management of basic medical insurance funds at the provincial level, improve the system for national centralized procurement of medicines, enhance regular oversight over the use of medical insurance funds, and refine the policies on settling medical expenses where they are incurred.
We will deepen the reform of public hospitals, improve medical services with a patient-centered approach, and promote mutual recognition of medical examination results between hospitals. To promote tiered diagnosis and treatment, we will channel more high-quality medical resources toward lower-level hospitals, promote stronger county-township-village coordination in the supply of medical services, and allow prescription of a wider range of medicines for chronic diseases and common diseases in community clinics. We will strengthen research, diagnosis, and treatment of rare diseases and better ensure the supply of medicines for such diseases. We will act faster to shore up weak links in services such as pediatrics, geriatrics, mental health, and nursing and strengthen the training of general practitioners.
We will promote the preservation and innovative development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and strengthen specialty branches that draw on the strengths of TCM. We will improve the system for disease prevention and control. We will advance the Healthy China Initiative and patriotic health campaigns and build a strong line of defense to protect people’s health.
We will enhance social security and social services.
We will pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging. The minimum basic old-age benefits for rural and non-working urban residents will be raised by 20 yuan per month. We will continue to increase basic pensions for retirees and improve the unified national management system for basic old-age insurance funds. We will implement the private pension system nationwide and encourage the development of third-pillar pension plans.
We will ensure services and support for veterans, military families, and other entitled groups. We will step up the development of elderly care networks in urban and rural communities and redouble efforts to strengthen elderly care services in rural areas. More products and services for senior citizens will be provided, and a further push will be made to develop the silver economy. We will move ahead with establishing insurance schemes for long-term care.
We will improve policies to boost birth rates by refining parental leave policies, improving the mechanism for sharing the related labor costs of employers, and increasing the supply of childcare services through multiple channels. These steps will reduce the costs of giving birth and raising and educating children.
We will ensure that left-behind children in rural areas and children in need receive adequate care and assistance. We will strengthen disability prevention, provide better rehabilitation services for people with disabilities, and improve policies for providing care to people suffering from severe disabilities. The multi-tiered and categorized social assistance system will be improved. We will coordinate policies on preventing a relapse into poverty and providing assistance to low-income groups so as to strengthen the safety net for ensuring the basic needs of the people.
We will enrich people’s intellectual and cultural lives.
We will gain a good understanding of Xi Jinping Thought on Culture and act on it. We will promote core socialist values. We will develop philosophy, social sciences, the press and publishing, radio, film and television, literature and art, archiving, and other programs. We will roll out policies and measures to support cultural preservation and development.
We will implement the national cultural digitization strategy and do more to foster a love of reading among our people. We will improve comprehensive cyberspace governance and cultivate a positive and healthy online culture that encourages the pursuit of excellence and integrity. We will implement cultural projects to benefit the public in a creative way and improve services of free public cultural facilities. More efforts will be made to develop the cultural sector. “
The full text can be seen in this web link: https://english.news.cn/20240312/0eb7388829f1400cb2f50a49f1373932/c.html
Cheers,
Cherie