What they say

Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Automobile and a deputy to the National People's Congress

The consumption of new energy vehicles in China is experiencing a historic transition from being driven by policy to being market-driven. Since 2020, government subsidies for such vehicles have been decreasing gradually. With new energy vehicles increasingly accepted by Chinese consumers, the new energy vehicle market in China has experienced robust growth in the past three years. The market has entered a virtuous cycle and has the capacity for independent development. Against the background of the virtuous cycle, the country's new energy vehicle industry has been in a new development stage that features high-quality development with innovation a top priority. The elimination of the subsidy, scheduled to start next year, will help foster even more outstanding domestic auto brands.

Zhang Endi, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party

We should beef up basic research on measuring carbon footprints and carbon sinks. In addition, efforts should be made to reform the system for carbon emission assessment. As we strive to promote the transformation of the energy mix and industrial structures, we should steadily develop hydro power, safely develop nuclear power and speed up development of wind and solar power, as well as hydrogen. There should also be consistent endeavors to boost the development of new energy vehicles and guide the transformation and upgrading of the automobile industry. We should build up a low-carbon market on the demand side. Aside from accelerating carbon emission allowance trading, we should include carbon sink and energy consumption rights in the trading market. The first priority is to build an open and unified national electricity market. The mechanism for power prices should be reformed. The market trading system should also be reformed in an innovative manner to allow companies to purchase different types of clean energy directly.

Yang Hairong, a deputy to the National People's Congress and chairwoman of the women's federation in Shangjing village, in Gansu province's Sunan Yugur autonomous county

Following years of consistent efforts in preserving the Qilian Mountains, at the foot of which our village is located, there has been great improvement in the local environment. Populations of a number of wild animals that were rarely seen before have been on the rise. Local residents frequently meet snow leopards, bears and red deer. In the past year, some solar power projects have been brought into my home area, and a power station using water pumped and stored upstream is also being constructed. I've heard that a distributed solar power generation project will be introduced into our village and our homes will be powered by renewable energy.

Wang Tao, a deputy to the National People's Congress and former head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources

Following central government guidelines, Gansu has rolled out pilot programs within its jurisdiction for a mechanism that protects river basins by compensating upstream areas for their environmental conservation efforts. The province has also been making efforts to sign agreements with other regions in the Yellow River Basin to introduce the mechanism. Gansu is, however, facing some difficulties implementing the mechanism. With no unified compensation standard, it is hard for different areas to reach a consensus on compensation. In the absence of relevant laws and regulations, downstream areas are not legally required to pay compensation. Therefore, there was a low willingness to compensate. This makes it necessary to improve the top-level design of the mechanism. Laws and regulations should be drafted to specify the obligations and responsibilities of the areas benefiting downstream to pay compensation.