China News Service, October 18th: Question: At this meeting, Xi Jinping said, "I may let you down today."
"I may disappoint you today. This discussion is not about development, but about protection."
On January 5, 2016, at a symposium on promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt held in Chongqing, General Secretary Xi Jinping got straight to the point. Many participants felt "as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on them."
The Yangtze River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, sustaining the ecology along the river that accounts for one-fifth of the country's land area. The Yangtze River is also the main artery of China's economy. The Yangtze River Economic Belt covers 11 provinces along the river, accounting for nearly half of the country's population and total economic output.
How to properly handle the relationship between protection and development has always been the key to Yangtze River governance, and it has also been a long-term concern of General Secretary Xi Jinping.
Once upon a time, the ecological environment of the Yangtze River was seriously damaged, rivers, lakes and wetlands shrank, ecological species declined sharply, and chemical industry encircled the river... The General Secretary once pointed out profoundly, "'The Yangtze River is sick,' and the disease is not serious."
At that symposium ten years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly stated that "together we should work together to protect the Yangtze River and not engage in large-scale development." In 10 words, it pointed out the direction for the management of the Yangtze River.
In the past ten years, in order to cure the "Yangtze River disease", General Secretary Xi Jinping has traveled to the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, hosted four symposiums, and continued to deploy "joint efforts to protect the Yangtze River and not engage in large-scale development."
To jointly implement comprehensive protection means to firmly establish the concept of ecological priority.
Ten years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly emphasized that “at present and for a long time to come, the restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River must be given an overwhelming priority.”
On April 24, 2018, the General Secretary visited Yichang, Hubei Province and walked into the Xingfa Group New Materials Industrial Park to inspect the relocation and transformation of chemical companies and the re-greening of the wharves.
After listening to the introduction of the staff, the general secretary said, "I emphasize that the construction of the Yangtze River Economic Belt must focus on large-scale protection and not engage in large-scale development. This does not mean that there is no need for large-scale development, but we must first establish a rule to put the ecological restoration of the Yangtze River first, protect the mother river of the Chinese nation, and not engage in destructive development."
Two days later, at a symposium on further promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt held in Wuhan, the general secretary emphasized that “we must resolutely abandon the practice of sacrificing the environment for temporary economic development.”
Instead of large-scale development, the key is to find a green development path.
In October 2023, during an inspection of Jiangxi, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Sinopec Jiujiang Branch. This company had been under heavy pressure in the battle to solve the "chemical industry encirclement of the river". By vigorously promoting energy conservation and carbon emission reduction, it actively explored digital, networked, and intelligent management to accelerate green and low-carbon transformation.
Here, the General Secretary learned in detail how the company "prevents a drop of oil and a drop of excessive sewage from entering the Yangtze River" and how to strive to "keep the odor from rising to the sky and dirty oil from falling to the ground." The General Secretary encouraged, "The standards are set high and we are working hard step by step."
During that Jiangxi inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “‘No large-scale development’ means not to develop indiscriminately, low-level development, extensive development, or destructive development, but to follow a path of high-quality development, green and low-carbon development. The path is right now, and we must continue to follow it.”
"Together we should focus on large-scale protection and not engage in large-scale development." In the past ten years, this concept has led the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which accounts for "half of the country's economy", to develop a new path of ecological priority and green development.
Today, the main line of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II water quality for six consecutive years starting from 2020, and aquatic biological resources and diversity continue to increase.
Today, the Yangtze River Economic Belt’s regional GDP has more than doubled compared to ten years ago, and its share in the country has increased from 42.2% to 47.3%.
A river of clear water flows eastward, vividly interpreting the story of green development and high-quality development.
｜Chief Planner: Yu Lan
｜Planner: Zhou Rui
｜Coordinator: Ma Xueling
｜Written by: Kan Feng Gao Meng
｜Proofreading: Yuan Xiuyue
|Visual: Xu Yang
｜Produced by the "Xi Yan Dao" studio of China News Network
