Chen Wenjun:

Thank you, Mr. Huang. The floor is open now. Please name the news agency you work for before raising questions. 

CCTV:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have declared war against pollution, subsequently made a comprehensive plan to prevent and remedy pollution, and then entered a phase of continuous environmental improvement. Mr. Huang, what progress has been made in ecological environment protection, what major changes have taken place, and what important steps will be taken in the future? Thank you.

Huang Runqiu:

Thanks a lot for the questions. The ecological environment presents a major social issue associated with people's livelihood, as well as a major political issue that is very important to fulfilling the CPC's mission. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has made unprecedented efforts to promote ecological progress, one important strategy of which was to plan for and make solid efforts to prevent and control pollution. General Secretary Xi Jinping established the guiding principles and strategies for the work and provided support and encouragement for us. He once said that, no matter how difficult it is, we must prevent and control pollution, do not hesitate, do not flinch, and fight it with resolution, courage, and a strong drive. And we kept his word firmly in mind, made steadfast efforts, and have seen great results. It is fair to say that we have completed the goals and missions set so far and even done some extra work, and, as the result, the ecological environment has been remarkably improved. 

I believe that the journalists here at this press conference share this strong feeling that we have seen more and more clear days in recent years. Lush mountains and clear waters can be seen everywhere. And these make people feel a stronger sense of happiness, gain, and security for environmental improvement. According to the survey and statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics last year, the rate of public satisfaction with the environment surpassed 90%. To be specific, I think the main results of the fight against pollution can be summarized in three aspects.

First, the air quality experienced historical changes. As an air quality criterion, the national average density of PM2.5, or fine particulate matter, lowered from 46 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015 to 33 in 2020 and to 30 last year, historically reaching the interim target-1 set by the World Health Organization. In addition, the rate of days with good air quality reached 87.5% last year, 6.3 percentage points higher than in 2015. China has become the country to improve its air quality most quickly in the world. According to Bloomberg, in the seven years between 2013 and 2020, the scale of air quality improvement in China equaled that of the United States over the 30 odd years since the launch of the Clean Air Act. 

Second, water quality experienced a turning point for the good. Over the past decade, the proportion of water section with good water quality at Grade I to III in the country's water quality system has increased by 23.3 percentage points to reach 84.9%, approaching the level of developed countries. The murky and stinky waters have disappeared from cities at prefecture level and above. The safety of drinking water has been effectively secured. 

Third, soil environmental quality went through fundamental changes. Over the years, we rolled out the law on the prevention and control of soil pollution, which is of great importance as our first fundamental legislation in the field. We carried out a national survey on soil pollution of land for agriculture and construction use and exercised risk management over soil pollution. The momentum of deteriorating soil pollution has been curbed effectively. 

The journalist just asked about what we will do during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. The CPC Central Committee has made it clear that we will further the efforts in fighting pollution. In November last year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council published their opinions regarding this point. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, we said we should make firm efforts to fight pollution, and in the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we said that we should further the efforts in the field. In my opinion, this is not only a change in terms but also an indication that we are facing deeper problems and more significant difficulties of a wider scope, while being required to meet higher standards. So, during this period, we will maintain the intensity of our efforts while expanding their breadth and depth. We will make further efforts to fight pollution with higher standards. All of these can be summarized into three aspects as follows.

First, at a strategic level, we must maintain a strategic focus, and advance in the right direction and in a sound and sustained manner. The ecological environment quality has improved, however, it is still at a relatively low level. Tireless efforts should be made to meet the needs of the people for a good ecological environment. We will put the fight against pollution into the big picture of socioeconomic development, seeking progress while maintaining stable performances, coordinating pandemic prevention and control with socioeconomic development and ecological environment protection so as to secure basic safety of the ecological environment. 

Second, at a tactical level, we should continue to treat pollution with targeted, law-based, and science-oriented measures. We have proposed that we should make accurate assessments regarding what has caused the pollution, which regions are involved, the right timing and proper schedule to control the pollution, the targets we should tackle, and the measures we should adopt. We advocated that we should seek control of environmental pollution by invoking the law and protect the ecological environment through the rule of law. 

Moreover, we will place emphasis on addressing problems at the source through systematic and comprehensive measures. We should coordinate the efforts in carbon reduction, pollution mitigation, vegetation planting, and economic development. One of the priorities is the coordination in five aspects. The first is the efficiency-improving coordination between carbon reduction and pollution mitigation. This is required for the high-quality development of the economy and serves the need to deepen environmental treatment and fundamentally transform the quality of the ecological environment from the source. The second is the coordination of the treatment of PM2.5 and ozone. Because the precursor of these two is the same. So, the reduction of both can be made possible at the same time. In recent years, we have made efforts and seen preliminary results. In 2021, the synergized reduction of both has been initially realized. The third is the coordination of water resources, water environment, and water ecosystem. A water body with good water quality requires a good water environment and good water ecosystem, which consists of water, aquatic plants, and fish. There is a gap on this front, especially regarding biodiversity as well as the restoration and conservation of the water ecosystem. And we shall put in more efforts. The fourth is the coordination between urban and rural resources. Our shortcoming and weakness still exist in the environmental treatment of rural areas, especially the treatment of diffused pollution, garbage, sewage, and murky and stinky waters. The fifth is the coordination of treatment of conventional pollutants and new types of pollutants. We should especially build a risk prevention and control system regarding new chemical substances. 

Third, at an operational level, we have planned eight key campaigns in pollution prevention and control and have launched them one after another. To promote blue skies, we will focus on generally eliminating heavy air pollution, controlling ozone pollution, and pollution caused by diesel trucks. To protect clear waters, we will give priority to generally eliminating black, malodorous water bodies and controlling and preventing water pollution in key sea areas and the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. To protect clean lands, we will carry out critical battles against pollution in agriculture and rural areas with a focus on cleaning up the black, malodorous water bodies and domestic sewage. 

In short, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, we will make greater efforts to address the salient ecological and environmental problems that concern people's daily life, and gain credibility with solid outcomes. Thank you.

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