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Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform

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XIV. Accelerating Ecological Progress

In order to promote ecological progress, we must establish complete and integrated institutions and systems, implement the strictest source protection system, damage compensation system and accountability system. We will also improve environment treatment and ecological restoration systems, and use set rules to protect the ecological environment.

51. Improving the system of natural resource property rights and the system of natural resource utilization control. We will carry out unified registration for natural ecological spaces such as rivers, forests, mountain ranges, grasslands, undeveloped land, tidal land, etc., so as to establish a natural resource property rights system with the property rights, rights and responsibilities clearly defined and characterized by effective oversight. We will establish a spatial planning system, and draw control boundaries for production, living and ecological space utilization. We will implement a system for conservation of energy, water and land resources and for their intensive use. We will improve the national natural resource management system, unify the duties of the people who act as the owners of public natural resources. We will improve the natural resource oversight system and unify the power over national land and space utilization.

52. Delimiting the red line for ecological protection. We will unwaveringly implement the system of functional areas, establish the system of land and space development and protection, promote development in strict accordance with the functional definition of these functional areas, and establish the national park system. We will establish the mechanism to monitor and give early warning to the carrying capacities of resources and the environment, and implement restrictive measures for regions where water and land resources, the environment and oceanic resources have been excessively exploited. We will cancel regional GDP assessment for regions under restrictive ecological development and for national key counties for poverty alleviation displaying ecological fragility. We will explore ways to compile a natural resource balance sheet and implement natural resource audits when leading officials leave their positions. We will establish a lifelong accountability system for ecological and environmental damage.

53. Implementing sound compensation systems for use of resources and for damage to the ecological environment. We will accelerate pricing reform for natural resources and their products to give full expression to their market supply and demand, the extent of resource scarcity, ecological and environmental damage costs and restoration benefits. We will adhere to the principle that whoever uses the resources must pay for them, and that whoever pollutes the environment and damages the ecology must pay compensation, and gradually expand resource taxes to cover the possession and use of all natural and ecological resources. We will stabilize and expand the areas where farmland is converted back to forests and grassland, adjust the usage of farmland in heavily polluted areas or areas where underground water has been overused, and implement an orderly rehabilitating system for farmland, rivers and lakes. We will establish effective comparative pricing mechanism to regulate industrial land and residential land prices, and raise the price of land for industrial use. We will persist in the principle that he who profits should compensate, improve the ecological compensation mechanism for key ecological functional areas, and promote the establishment of a horizontal compensation system between regions. We will develop the environmental protection market, implement a trading system for energy conservation, carbon emission, waste discharge and water usage rights, establish a market-oriented mechanism to attract private capital to ecological and environmental protection, and implement third-party treatment of environmental pollution.

54. Reforming the ecological protection management system. We will establish and improve an environmental protection system that strictly supervises the emission of all pollutants, and independently conduct environmental supervision and administrative law enforcement. We will establish a joint interregional mechanism for comprehensive land and marine ecosystem protection, restoration and pollution prevention. We will improve the operation and management system for the state-owned forest regions and press ahead with the reform of collective forest rights. We will publicize environmental information in a timely manner, improve reporting system, and strengthen social supervision. We will improve the licensing system for pollutant emission, and implement quantity control system for pollution emission by enterprises and public institutions. We will strictly implement the compensation system for those responsible for ecological or environmental damage, and investigate any criminal responsibilities in accordance with the law.