12月4日早间英文播报：Blueprint sets tone for green development

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TaihuLake in Wuzhong district is a popular tourism destination in Suzhou. [Photo byChen Buxiang/for China Daily]

Ambitious vision to offer alternate pathfor other developing nations, experts say

China'swide-ranging green transformation in the next five years and beyond, somethingemphasized at a key Party meeting in October, marks a historic turning point inthe country's development mode, experts said.

Theambitious vision is also of global significance, they said, because it willoffer other developing nations an alternate path to prosperity rather than justfollowing in the footsteps of developed countries.

Theycautioned, however, that while China is increasingly prepared for thetransformation in terms of its technological and economic strength, the countrystill faces complicated and arduous tasks in hammering out systematic actionplans to fulfill the vision.

Toachieve a fundamental improvement in environmental quality by 2035, China willendeavor to make production and lifestyles green throughout all areas ofsociety, according to a proposal unveiled in November after the Fifth Plenary Sessionof the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in October.

Thecountry will make efforts to see marked progress in the transformation duringthe 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, according to the proposal.

Asidefrom strengthening law and policy support for green development, for example,it said the country will strive to promote green finance and encourage greentechnological innovations. Green buildings will also be promoted.

Greendevelopment has been an underlying trend since the 18th CPC National Congressin 2012, and the proposal shows that, with stronger governance capabilities,the central authorities have made sustained efforts to further develop XiJinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, a concept promoted by Xi thatadvocates balanced and sustainable development, said Wang Yi, a member of theStanding Committee of the National People's Congress and the NPC'sEnvironmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.

Greendevelopment is one of President Xi Jinping's top concerns. Via video link inBeijing at the Leaders' Side Event on Safeguarding the Planet of the G20 RiyadhSummit on Nov 22, for example, he said China will pursue clean, low-carbon,safe and efficient use of energy and accelerate the growth of new energy andgreen industries to promote greener economic and social development in allrespects.

Insteadof considering GDP as the core focus of development, the central authoritieshave been tending to prioritize environmental protection in their governancephilosophy, or at least emphasizing the need to balance economic developmentand environmental protection, he said.

Previously,the country mainly resorted to "end-of-pipe solutions"－pollution-control approaches that clean uppollutants at the point where they enter the environment－in its environmental governance. Now it hasbeen shifting to a more systematic approach of reforming the economicdevelopment mode by adjusting the structures of industry, energy consumption,transportation and land use, said Wang, who is also vice-president of theChinese Academy of Sciences' Institutes of Science and Development.

Ren Yong,head of the Environmental Development Center of the Ministry of Ecology andEnvironment, said the emphasis on "green" in the proposal furtherenriched and clarified the concept of high-quality development that the centralauthorities have been promoting to help realize the goal of building China intoa great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic,culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by the middle of the century.

"Thesectors that are related to green are so wide-ranging in the proposal that nota single necessary area is neglected," he said.

Ren was alead author of the Special Policy Study on Green Transition and SustainableSocial Governance released in September by the China Council for InternationalCooperation on Environment and Development, a high-level international advisorybody for the Chinese government.

Strong consensus

He saidan increasingly strong consensus has built up in China that the causes ofenvironmental pollution and ecosystem damage are rooted in styles of productionand life.

"Thefundamental solution to address environmental problems is to make the stylesrational and green," Ren said.

AsJapan's experience had proved, the contribution "end-of-pipesolutions" can make to environmental management is limited, he said.Research had found that even when Japan's investment in sulfur dioxide disposalfacilities peaked in the 1970s, such solutions only contributed to about 30percent of the reduction in emissions.

Ren saidJapan's major achievements in addressing sulfur dioxide pollution had come frommaking its energy cleaner, enhancing energy efficiency and adjusting the structuresof industry and energy consumption.

Withgenerally solid economic and technological foundations for extending itsenvironmental governance efforts from the end of the pipe to the entireproduction chain, China's central authorities mapped out a general blueprintfor a wide-ranging green transformation at the Fifth Plenary Session. Thecountry, however, still needs to work out suitable action plans for differentregions and detailed road maps for different industries.

While itmay be easier for developed regions in eastern China to adjust their industrialstructures and phase out small, polluting factories, Ren said action plansshould be drafted in a more detailed manner for central and western regionsbased on their development levels to facilitate their sustained and phasedtransformation efforts.

He saidthe road maps for different industries should cover all production-relatedprocedures, ranging from design to recycling.

"It'sa systematic, comprehensive and complicated project," he said, adding thatas well as having the necessary technological and financial capabilities, thecountry also needs to update regulations, roll out incentives and setindustrial standards to make the transformation work.

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记者：侯黎强

播报：Jocelyn Eikenburg

音频编辑：万月英

原文链接：

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202012/03/WS5fc81cd5a31024ad0ba996c2.html