Ecological improvements pave way for growth

Beijing is making headway in advancing environmental protection and creating an "ecological civilization" in a bid to seek high-quality growth, local officials said.

By improving laws and regulations, introducing standards and policies and promoting environmental protection education, as well as optimizing its industrial structure, Beijing's governance capacity over environmental protection has been enhanced, said Yu Jianhua, deputy head of the Beijing Ecological Environment Bureau.

To date, the city has introduced 70 local environmental standards and has implemented a series of local regulations over water and air pollution prevention and control.

The capital is home to 52 environmental education centers as well as 41 environmental protection facilities and urban sewage treatment facilities, which are open to the public.

In 2018, the total coal burned in Beijing decreased by 87 percent from that of 2005.

Today, green energy accounts for 96 percent of the city's overall power supply.

The city government has phased out some 3,000 polluting enterprises, and strives to gradually build an economic structure featuring sophisticated and advanced industries, Yu said.

In early March, the United Nations Environment Programme released a report on Beijing's air pollution control from 1998 to 2017, outlining the city's achievements in improving its air quality.

The report reveals that during the past two decades, Beijing cut the annual average density of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air by 93 and 38 percent, respectively. And the annual average density of PM10 particulate matter fell by 55 percent during the period.

In early September, the Beijing Ecological Environment Bureau announced that the daily average density of PM2.5 particulate matter in August was 23 micrograms per cubic meter, and the daily average density of PM2.5 particulate matter for the first eight months this year was 42 micrograms per cubic meter. Both have hit record lows, according to the bureau.

While improving its air quality, Beijing has made strides in protecting and restoring its water resources.

"Up to now, Beijing has established a relatively complete water infrastructure system, which consists of 1,090 locks, 616 pump stations, 1,458 kilometers of dikes and 88 reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 9.3 billion cubic meters," said Yang Jinhuai, deputy director of the Beijing Water Authority.

The capital has newly established an array of sewage pipes, with a total length of some 2,000 km. The sewage pipe network has covered the entire city, Beijing Mayor Chen Jining said at a recent news conference.

The authorities have also built 26 new water plants, helping the city improve its utilization rate of recycled water. In 2018, the recycled water used in Beijing reached 1.07 billion cubic meters, accounting for 27.4 percent of the city's total water consumption.

To build an eco-friendly and livable city, Beijing has also created more green spaces.

The city's forest coverage rate has increased to 43.5 percent from 1.3 percent before, Chen said.

In urban areas, the green coverage rate stands at 48.44 percent and its per capita public green area has hit 16.3 square meters, said Gao Dawei, deputy director of the Beijing Forestry and Parks Bureau.

Last year, Beijing launched a new round of afforestation projects, helping the city add 156.67 million sq m green areas, Gao noted.

zhangdandan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/01/2019 page10)