The Publicity Development of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee held a special press conference on ecological civilization construction on September 1. It was learned that in the past ten years, Hunan's GDP has doubled, while the energy consumption per unit of GDP has decreased by 20.1%. The province achieved the binding targets of dual control of total energy consumption and energy intensity.

Hunan has unswervingly promoted green and low-carbon development since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012. The province has focused on the goal of synergizing the reduction of pollution and carbon emissions. Efforts have been made to control chemical production along rivers and lakes; phase out substandard steel products, small coal mines, and excessive production capacity; develop emerging industries of strategic importance, and build Hunan into a hub of advanced manufacturing industry of national importance, a hub of technological innovation with core competitiveness, and a hub of reform and opening up in inland regions.

Hunan has implemented environment control measures, including red lines for ecological conservation, benchmarks for environmental quality, caps on resource utilization, and a list of environmental permits for human activities, to promote the relocation and transformation of old industrial bases and optimize land-use structure and industrial layout.

Efforts have been made to prevent shipping and wharf pollution to make the Yangtze River a golden waterway.

The province has pushed forward a number of green agriculture and ecological agriculture projects, curbed the haphazard development of energy-intensive and high-emission projects, and focused on green industrial park construction. Up to now, 10 national green industrial parks and 100 national green factories have been established, which will help effect a green transformation in all aspects of social and economic development.

Hydropower efficiency and capacity expansion projects have been carried out in rural areas and small hydro-electric power demonstration plants have been built. These efforts help save 6.03 million tons of standard coal and cut15.48 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the province's emissions of chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxide decreased by 11.6%, 17.1%, 28.7%, and 18.8% respectively, surpassing the targets set by the central government.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn