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E-mail China.org.cn, December 2, 2024
China Youth Daily:
As we understand, the MEE in recent years has made certain gains in the fight to keep our skies blue. Blue skies, which were notable enough to be posted on social media a few years ago, have now become a regular expectation. What are the new difficulties and priorities with efforts to prevent and control air pollution currently? What will be the focus next? Thank you.
Huang Runqiu:
Mr. Zhao will take your questions.
Zhao Yingmin:
Thank you for your questions. In recent years, progress in the fight to keep our skies blue has been apparent to all. As Mr. Huang mentioned earlier, China has seen a significant drop in PM2.5 levels over the past decade, making it the fastest country in the world to improve air quality. Not only have the number of blue-sky days increased, but their quality has also improved. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has even hailed Beijing's progress in air quality improvement as "Beijing Miracle." Nowadays, red walls, yellow glazed roof tiles and blue skies have become a common element in the photo albums of both citizens and tourists.
According to the Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China, by 2035, the national PM2.5 concentration should be reduced to below 25 micrograms per cubic meter. This means that the annual average concentration in 339 cities across the country needs to reach the level of Beijing from June to September. There are significant challenges to achieving this goal. In the past, we vigorously eliminated backward production capacity and promoted clean heating in northern China, and comprehensively cracked down on illegal pollution discharges, achieving positive results. However, the emission reduction benefits from these measures have significantly decreased, and our progress on atmospheric pollution control has entered the most difficult stage. In the future, we must rely more on the green and low-carbon transformation of industry, energy and transportation structures, making concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development and boost economic growth. In addition, unfavorable meteorological factors such as spring dust storms, abnormal summer heatwaves, and high humidity and atmospheric stagnation in fall and winter have frequently occurred in recent years, having a considerable impact on atmospheric environmental quality. It can be said that the task of continuously improving atmospheric quality remains arduous and far-reaching.
Next, we will anchor the goal of building a Beautiful China, continue to keep our skies blue as the focal point, solidly promote green and low-carbon transformation and development, and make continuous improvements in air quality to drive high-quality economic development. First, we must control pollution in a targeted manner. We will intensify structural optimization and adjustment, advance high-quality ultra-low emission retrofits in the steel, cement and coking industries, promote the shutdown and consolidation of coal-fired boilers and the substitution of clean energy for industrial furnaces, accelerate the promotion of new energy vehicles, and promote the synergistic enhancement of pollution and carbon reduction. Second, we will continue to control pollution in a science-based way. We will take key regions as the main battleground, regard reducing PM2.5 concentrations as the main line, focus on reducing the number of heavily polluted days, vigorously promote reductions in nitrogen oxides and volatile organic pollutants, and coordinately control ozone pollution. Third, we will emphasize pollution control in accordance with the law. We will further improve the laws, regulations and standards system, deepen the management of pollution discharge permits, strictly carry out supervision and management in accordance with the law, implement tailored policies for enterprises, and resolutely oppose one-size-fits-all approaches.
I believe that through the joint efforts of the whole of society, we will win this battle for blue skies, making blue skies and twinkling stars the norm, and making the people's happiness with blue skies more sustainable. Thank you.
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