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E-mail China.org.cn, December 2, 2024
National Business Daily:
We know that water is the source of life, crucial for production and the foundation of ecology. What work has the MEE done to protect the water ecosystem, and how do you plan to further improve water environments in the future? Thank you.
Huang Runqiu:
I would like to invite Ms. Guo to answer this question.
Guo Fang:
Thank you for your question. Protecting rivers and lakes is related to the well-being of the people and the long-term development of the Chinese nation. As Mr. Huang just introduced, in recent years, we have continuously carried out the campaign to keep waters clear, vigorously reduced emissions and cracked down on pollution, resulting in significant and transformative changes in our country's water ecological environment protection. Here, I would like to repeat some figures that the minister just mentioned. In 2023, the proportion of surface water classed as excellent and good quality reached 89.4%, exceeding the 14th Five-Year Plan target by 4.4 percentage points. The main stem of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II water quality for four consecutive years, and the main stem of the Yellow River has maintained Class II water quality for two consecutive years. Our mother rivers are gradually recovering vitality. We have mainly carried out work in four areas:
Water environment treatment has been continuously deepened. We all know that water problems occur in the water, but the root causes are all on shore. Only by firmly grasping the investigation and remediation of sewage outlet discharges into rivers and forcibly treating various pollution sources on shore can we solve the problem. Currently, we have investigated 560,000 kilometers of river and lake shorelines and resolved nearly 200,000 issues of direct and random sewage discharges. For example, the Taihu Lake region has continuously strengthened pollution source control and interception, leading the proportion of water quality classed as good in the main rivers flowing into the lake to reach 100% in 2023. An important manifestation is that the maximum area of cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake decreased by 50.8% year on year. In the first half of this year, no significant blooms were detected in the lake, which are at their lowest level since the large-scale outbreak in 2007, demonstrating significant treatment results.
Water ecological protection and restoration have been continuously promoted. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, we have conducted monitoring and surveys of water ecological conditions in China's seven major river basins, carried out pilot water ecological assessments focusing on the Yangtze River basin, established an indicator system centered on water ecosystem health, and guided local authorities to intensify protection and restoration efforts. After 30 years, the Coilia nasus (Chinese tapertail anchovy) has once again migrated upstream to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake. The beloved "smiling angel," the Yangtze finless porpoise, has also frequently appeared along the river.
Ecological water use has been continuously guaranteed We have issued plans for the ecological environment protection of key river basins, clarified the water flow targets for ensuring the ecological environment of key rivers and lakes, strengthened unified supervision of river basins' ecological environment, and promoted the resolution of prominent issues such as rivers drying up and lake wetland degradation. In 2023, the Yongding River, which had been dry for more than 20 years, achieved year-round water flow, and the ancient spring at Jinci Temple in Shanxi province flowed again after 30 years.
River basin management reform has been continuously deepened. We have promoted the issuance of laws protecting the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, established ecological environment supervision and management institutions for the seven major river basins, carried out basin inspections and provincial inspections in a coordinated manner, improved horizontal ecological protection compensation mechanisms across provinces, and effectively stimulated upstream and downstream collaboration in river basin protection. The Xin'an River, as a pilot for ecological compensation mechanisms across provinces in China, has maintained Class II water quality at the provincial boundary section for 12 years. The compensation mechanism has provided experience, being replicated and promoted in 23 provinces and 27 river basins.
Of course, we must recognize that the prevention of water pollution and the restoration of water ecosystems still face significant challenges and have a long way to go. Moving forward, we'll focus on building beautiful rivers and lakes and strengthening the coordination of water resources, environment and ecology. We'll urge local governments to address severe gaps in environmental infrastructure, promoting integrated upstream-downstream ecological governance systems in key river basins. We aim to steadily improve water ecosystem quality by presenting more scenes of "clear waters, green shores and fish swimming in shallow waters." Thank you.
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