Coordinating the promotion of ecological environment protection and economic development-report on the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt
Promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee and a major strategy related to the overall development of the country.
In November 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the symposium on comprehensively promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt that he will unswervingly implement the new development concept, promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and make the Yangtze River Economic Belt the main battlefield of my country’s ecological priority green development. Domestic and international dual-circulation aorta, leading the main force of high-quality economic development.
The outline of the "14th Five-Year Plan" proposes to comprehensively promote the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and coordinate the promotion of ecological environmental protection and economic development.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt covers 11 provinces and cities including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and covers an area of approximately 2,052,300 square kilometers, accounting for 21.4% of the country; the total population at the end of 2020 is 6.06 100 million people, accounting for 42.9% of the country.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt is a region with active economy and great development potential in my country.
In 2020, the 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt will achieve a regional GDP of 47.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 46.4% of the country’s GDP. 46.5% of the country.
The water resources of the Yangtze River account for about 36% of the country's total. The area of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands in the Yangtze River Basin account for about 20% of the country's total. Rare and endangered plants account for 39.7% of the country's total, and freshwater fish account for 33% of the country's total.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt occupies an important position in the construction of my country's ecological civilization.
Since the "13th Five-Year Plan", the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has been comprehensively promoted.
In 2016, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline of the Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Plan", putting the protection and restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River in the first place, and clarifying the goals and requirements for the construction of ecological civilization in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in 2020 and 2030.
Ecological construction has achieved remarkable results
Guided by the "Outline of the Development Plan for the Yangtze River Economic Belt", the Yangtze River Economic Belt has promoted green development at multiple levels: focusing on water, gas, and soil environments to carry out centralized treatment and restoration. Transfer payments, forestry and grassland transfer payments allocated 131.2 billion yuan and 120.3 billion yuan to support the construction of the ecosystem; focus on key areas, strengthen source governance, implement the "4+1" project, and publish the "Regarding Accelerating the Advancement of Agricultural Non-point Sources in the Yangtze River Economic Zone" "Guiding Opinions on Pollution Control" and other policies to promote the delineation of the "three areas and three lines" (red lines for urban, agricultural, ecological space and ecological protection, red lines for permanent basic farmland protection, and urban development boundaries) of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the "three lines and one single line" (ecological The establishment and implementation of red line protection, environmental quality bottom line, resource utilization online and ecological environment access list), strictly control pollutant discharge; actively promote green transformation, and promulgate policies such as the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Industrial Green Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt" to promote Transform and upgrade key areas; explore cross-regional cooperation mechanisms, issue "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of Upstream and Downstream Horizontal Ecological Protection Compensation Mechanisms", establish a "1+3" inter-provincial consultation and cooperation mechanism for the Yangtze River Economic Zone, and promote regional green and coordinated development.
The quality of the ecological environment has improved significantly.
In 2020, the proportion of sections with good water quality (I-III) in the Yangtze River Basin will be 96.7%, an increase of 14.9 percentage points from 2015 and 13.3 percentage points higher than the national average.
For the first time, the main stream has completely eliminated water bodies inferior to Class V, and the water quality of the whole line has reached Class II. The water quality of the main stream and the main tributaries are all excellent.
The compliance rate of river assessment sections in 11 provinces and cities (above Class III, provincial control inspection) has been greatly increased.
In comparison, the upstream and midstream water quality conditions are more prominent. Guizhou Province’s 2020 assessment section compliance rate is 99.3%; the downstream water quality has improved significantly. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, and Zhejiang Province’s assessment section compliance rates were respectively An increase of 59.4, 39.9 and 21.7 percentage points.
At the same time, the excellent and good rate of AQI in 11 provinces and cities reached an average of 90.8%, an increase of 10.1 percentage points from 2015 and 3.8 percentage points higher than the national average.
Among them, the average annual average concentration of PM2.5 is 31 micrograms/m3, a decrease of 37.0% from 2015.
At the same time, air quality has improved significantly. Hubei, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Hunan have performed more prominently. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the air quality index good rate increased by 17.0, 16.5, 15.1, and 13.8 percentage points, respectively.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, 11 provinces and cities have afforested a total of 14.994 million hectares, using 21.4% of the country's land area to support 41.1% of the country's afforestation area.
The Ninth National Forestry Census showed that the forest area of the Yangtze River Economic Zone increased by 5.815 million hectares compared with the eighth Census. According to the provincial and municipal coverage rate, the forest coverage rate of the Yangtze River Economic Zone reached 44.4%, 21.4 percentage points higher than the national average.
In 2020, the area of soil erosion in the Yangtze River Economic Zone was 389,000 square kilometers, a decrease of 51,000 square kilometers compared to 2011, of which, compared with 2018, the area of soil erosion was 12,000 square kilometers; soil erosion accounted for 18.9% of the total land area, a decrease of 2.5 compared to 2011 Percentage points, of which, from 2018 to 2020, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points.
Pollutant emissions are controlled to a certain extent.
While actively promoting ecological restoration and eliminating "stock" problems, speeding up pollution source management and controlling "increase" are the core content of the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
In recent years, the Yangtze River Economic Belt has carried out centralized treatment in key areas such as industrial and agricultural non-point source pollution, urban wastewater, tailings ponds, and ships, and has focused on reducing pollutant emissions, and has achieved initial results.
According to the China Statistical Yearbook, the total sulfur dioxide emissions in the Yangtze River Economic Zone will be 1.165 million tons in 2020, a sharp drop of 81.7% from 2015; the total nitrogen oxide emissions will be 5.3617 million tons, a decrease of 9.4% from 2015; the total ammonia and nitrogen emissions in wastewater will be reduced by 9.4%. The volume was 470,000 tons, a decrease of 52.9% from 2015.
The utilization efficiency of resources and energy has been significantly improved.
The utilization efficiency of natural resources is an important indicator to measure the relationship between the natural environment and the economy and society. Improving the utilization efficiency of natural resources can not only enhance the ability of resources to support economic and social development, but also help reduce the consumption of natural resources.
Water saving and energy saving work in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is progressing steadily.
In 2020, the total water consumption of the Yangtze River Economic Zone is 248.29 billion cubic meters, which is 13.98 billion cubic meters less than in 2015 and 43.93 billion cubic meters less than the 2020 control target. From 2015 to 2020, the water consumption per unit of GDP in the Yangtze River Economic Zone will drop 31.4%, of which Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, and Jiangxi dropped by more than 30%.
Most provinces and cities have completed their energy intensity control targets. Among them, the energy intensity of Guizhou, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Hunan has fallen by more than 20%.
The pace of industrial transformation and upgrading has accelerated.
Optimizing the industrial structure and promoting industrial upgrading are not only the inherent requirements of economic development, but also the important content of green development.
During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the Yangtze River Economic Belt vigorously promoted the structural adjustment of the supply side, accelerated the cultivation of strategic emerging industries and high-tech industries, and further optimized the industrial structure.
Among them, Shanghai and Guizhou’s strategic emerging industries accounted for 3.9 and 3.0 percentage points of the regional GDP, respectively, while Anhui and Jiangsu’s strategic emerging industries increased by 17.9 and 8.4 percentage points. The proportion of emerging industries in the added value of industries above designated size increased by 7.6 percentage points. The output value of strategic emerging industries in Hubei increased by 11% annually, the added value of strategic emerging industries in Hunan increased by 9.9% annually, and the contribution rate of strategic emerging industries in Chongqing to industrial growth Up to 55.7%; Jiangxi's high-tech industries accounted for a 12.5 percentage point increase in the value added of industries above designated size, Yunnan's high-tech industry's total industrial output value increased by 55.7%, and Sichuan's high-tech industries accounted for a 4.8 percentage point increase in the operating income of industries above designated size.
The urban green transformation has achieved outstanding results.
Cities have actively promoted green transformation, providing strong support for the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
Take Changsha City as an example. In 2017, its economic aggregate exceeded one trillion yuan. While maintaining rapid economic growth, green and low-carbon development has achieved remarkable results.
During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, Changsha City supported an average annual economic growth of 7.8% with an average annual energy consumption growth of 3%, and the effect of energy conservation and consumption reduction was obvious.
In the field of ecological environment, the water quality of the national and provincial control sections of the city has been increased to 100%, the forest coverage rate has reached 55%, more than 90% of the contaminated land can be used safely, and the air quality rate has reached 84.4%.
Transformation is long-term and complex
The Yangtze River Economic Belt has comprehensively promoted green and low-carbon development and has made historic achievements.
However, the green and low-carbon transition is a systemic economic and social transformation with a certain degree of long-term and complexity. The green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt still faces many challenges, especially some deep-seated problems that need to be broken through.
Ecosystem restoration is under great pressure.
The Yangtze River is the largest river in my country, with outstanding characteristics of diversity and complexity of geological conditions. In 2020, there will be 4901 geological disasters in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, accounting for 62.5% of the country's total.
The problems of "stock" and "increment" are intertwined, and it is difficult for the ecosystem to enter a state of self-repair in the short term.
The foundation of the water environment is not stable, and the water quality of some sections is not stable; the historical legacy of soil pollution is prominent. The industrial and mining contaminated land and contaminated arable land are widely distributed and large in stock. The contaminated land that needs to be repaired in Zhejiang alone accounts for ten of the country’s total. One part; the air quality has improved overall, but the pressure in some areas is still high. There is still a big gap between the exhaust emissions of the Yangtze River Economic Zone and the natural balance point, and the climate is still the main factor. needs improvement.
Structural problems are more prominent.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt occupies an important position in my country's raw material industry. In 2020, the output of sulfuric acid, soda ash, ethylene, cement, flat glass, and crude steel in the Yangtze River Economic Belt will account for 62.4%, 39.3%, 32.5%, 49.7%, and 38.3% of the country's output in 2020. And 32.0%.
Despite the rapid development of emerging industries in recent years, the “heavy” industrial structure has not yet undergone a fundamental change.
The characteristics of the industrial structure of “heavy chemical industry” and the energy structure of “heavy coal” increase resource consumption on the one hand, and increase the difficulty of pollutant prevention and control on the other. In 2020, the general industrial solid waste generated in the Yangtze River Economic Zone will be 1.02 billion tons. , An increase of 10.6% over 2015, while the comprehensive utilization rate dropped by 2.9 percentage points.
The task of structural optimization is arduous, and the coordination between economic development and ecological environment protection faces challenges.
The green transformation of production and lifestyle is difficult.
Driven by relevant policies, the proportion of enterprises entering the industrial park has increased significantly, and the degree of industrial spatial agglomeration has increased, but the circular economy system of the park has not been perfected, and the ecological effect of the agglomeration has not been fully utilized; the power of green transformation of enterprises is relatively insufficient, and the innovation and application of green technology The investment is too small, and a considerable number of enterprises are still “passive” in terms of ecological and environmental protection. Excessive discharge and illegal discharge occur from time to time; agricultural non-point source pollution is large, many points, and wide, and the level of agricultural waste treatment needs to be improved; Urban and rural ecological and environmental protection facilities are not perfect, sewage and garbage collection and treatment capacity need to be improved, and the convenience of services is still a shortcoming.
Institutional and mechanism construction needs to be strengthened.
On March 1, 2021, the Yangtze River Protection Law was officially implemented, marking an important step in the legalization of ecological and environmental protection in the Yangtze River Economic Zone.
However, the special regulations and local regulations on the ecological environment are not yet complete, and the cross-regional linkage mechanism has not been fully formed, which has had a certain impact on the construction of related systems; the long-term green development mechanism has not yet been formed, and there are currently many administrative constraints and market mechanisms. The role of environmental protection has not been fully utilized, the internal motivation of enterprises for ecological environmental protection is insufficient, and the level of social participation in the construction of ecological environmental protection infrastructure is not high; the level of ecological environmental governance needs to be improved, and digital technology has not been widely used in ecological environmental governance; ecological compensation mechanisms are in In the exploration stage, the inter-regional coordination mechanism has not made substantial progress, and the resource elements are still restricted by administrative barriers. It is difficult to achieve efficient allocation. Although all provinces and cities have begun to try to establish a regional cooperation mechanism, the The progress of cross-regional coordination in transformation, energy consumption, and infrastructure construction has been relatively slow.
Promote green development and write a new chapter
The new development stage puts forward higher requirements for the construction of ecological civilization.
Recently, the Office of the Leading Group for the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has promoted the release of the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt". The "1+N" planning policy system for the development of the Yangtze River Economic Development has been fully deployed.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt must make great efforts to promote green development, systematically plan, and accurately exert efforts to promote the transformation of green development from quantitative change to qualitative change, and write a new chapter in ecological priority for green development.
Enhancing the overall function of the ecosystem.
The Yangtze River basin is a complete ecosystem. "Landscapes, forests, fields, lakes, and sands" are interdependent. The improvement of the ecosystem and the improvement of overall functions are both the goal of green development and the foundation of ecological construction.
The various subsystems in the ecosystem are closely related and interact with each other. Ecological restoration and protection should focus on the overall advancement. On the basis of previous results, we should strengthen the governance of weak links, especially the environmental governance of tributaries and small water bodies, and strengthen the restoration of contaminated land; Great efforts to protect biodiversity, fill gaps in biodiversity protection; carefully investigate environmental risk factors, and strengthen governance of environmentally sensitive areas and areas.
While strengthening the governance of weak links, it is necessary to pay attention to the relevance of the ecosystem, strengthen the coordination of the governance of main and tributary streams, coordinate water and land environmental protection, and co-govern the water, gas, and soil environments. The construction of ecological environmental protection projects must fully consider the comprehensive impacts and support the Projects with comprehensive effects will strengthen the construction of forest land and vegetation.
Pay attention to the combination of differentiated development and regional synergy.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt stretches across the east, middle, and west. There are big differences in resource endowments and economic development stages among regions, and the problems and development priorities faced by ecological environmental protection are also different.
Therefore, on the one hand, we must pay full attention to regional differences, and on the basis of implementing the overall target requirements, encourage and support regions to explore green development paths and models that suit their own characteristics in accordance with local conditions.
On the other hand, differentiation is the basis and condition of regional coordination. Regional coordination in the Yangtze River Economic Zone is an inevitable requirement for green development. The resolution of deep-seated problems urgently requires a breakthrough in regional coordination.
It is necessary to promote the development of regional coordination to a substantive stage, strengthen cooperation in industrial layout, energy structure optimization, infrastructure construction, and joint prevention and control of pollutants, strengthen mechanism construction while enhancing the traction of projects, and use major projects to drive regional cooperation.
Insist on innovation to drive green development.
Innovation is the internal driving force of green development. Whether it is long-term structural adjustment or the green transformation of production links, innovation is needed to support it.
In view of the characteristics of the "heavy chemical" industries in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, support the park system innovation and model innovation, actively build a circular economy system, focus on building a green development demonstration park, and explore a new path for the coordinated development of ecological environmental protection and economic construction.
Establish and improve the green technology innovation system, strengthen the dominant position of enterprise innovation, strengthen the research and development of key technologies and core technologies in the field of ecological and environmental protection, and increase the promotion of advanced green technologies.
Promote the digital level of ecological environmental governance, improve the application of digital technology in environmental monitoring, pollutant prevention, ecological environment optimization, and cross-regional joint prevention and control, and improve the level of ecological environmental governance.
Strengthen the integration with the carbon emission reduction mechanism.
The value of ecological products is the basis for the establishment of a green development market mechanism. For a long time, value accounting and value realization have restricted the development of ecological products.
With the introduction of carbon peak and carbon neutral targets, the carbon trading market has developed rapidly, and carbon pricing and trading mechanisms have gradually formed. Strengthen the integration with carbon trading, enhance the relationship between production products and carbon, and help solve the problem of ecological product measurement. The dilemma of "difficult" and "difficult to trade".
At the same time, it is necessary to make full use of carbon trading and carbon sink mechanisms, innovate ecological compensation models, and promote regional ecological cooperation.
(Source of this article: Economic Daily, Author: Research Group of Institute of Mathematics, Technology and Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Written by Wu Bin)