Changsha, April 19 (Xinhua Net)---- To break through the bottleneck brought about by the sealed-in environmental administration in different regions, China is exploring a cooperative administration in environmental protection in the largest city group of Central China---the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan (CZT) city cluster, attempting to take the lead in establishing an ecologically livable and comfortable city cluster.
As Jiang Yiming, director of the Hunan Provincial Environmental Protection Administration, announced on the 2009 International Cooperation Forum on Resources and Environment held on April 18, a unified administration system is to be established in the CZT city cluster in about 3 years, so as to shape a systematic framework for the benign development of CZT city cluster.
Zhou Shengxian, minister of Environmental Protection Ministry of the PRC, and Hunan Governor Zhou Qiang, signed a cooperative agreement on enhancing the comprehensive treatment of ecological environment in the Xiangjiang River Basin, the prevention and control of air pollution, and the protection of rural environment etc. on April 18, striving for a recyclable, sustainable, stable and harmonious society in the CZT city cluster which is featured by low consumption, less emission, low input and high output.
Mr. Zhou Shengxian promised that the Ministry of Environmental Protection will fully support the ‘Two-oriented’ society construction in the CZT city cluster, hoping for bold innovation and exploration of environmental protection means as well as shift of developing modes in CZT area.
CZT city cluster is one of the most concentrated industrial areas in Central China, and comparatively speaking, also a region with heavy pollution. Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan are three cities along the Xiangjiang River, one of the tributary of the Yangtze River. In the past, for lack of unified supervision and environmental protection, the Xiangjiang River was polluted for several times.
Experts on environmental protection hold that the close interrelatedness of these three cities requires them to be united as a whole in terms of environmental treatment and administration. Statistics from the Hunan Provincial Administration of Environmental Protection show that in the exploration of a resource-saving and environment-friendly society, a series of environmental protection projects have been successfully set up, such as the lead fume treatment in the Zhuzhou metallurgical plant, Xiawan sewage treatment plant in Zhuzhou, landfill site of Changsha, treatment of electrochemical sewage in Xiangtan, etc. , which indicate that the first step in the unified environmental protection and administration has been made.
To expand the financing channels of environment-friendly industries, Hunan will enhance international cooperation, vigorously attract foreign investments in various forms such as joint ventures, etc; support the investment of nongovernmental fund in the environment-friendly industries, encourage their involvement in various forms in pollutant control, construction of pollution-prevention facilities etc., said Jiang.
Wei Baoyu, an official from the WWF in charge of Changsha projects, added that the cooperative environmental administration in CZT city cluster should not be restricted to the reduction of pollutant emission and improvement of water quality, while equal attention must be paid to the recovery of the natural state of the Xiangjiang River, which includes the vegetation and biodiversity along the Xiangjiang River Basin. As Wei said, ‘environment’ concerns far more than merely air quality or water quality, but rather, it is about the entire ecology, therefore, we should handle the environmental treatment from a higher standing point, i.e. an ecological perspective.
Reporter: Yang Shuyi, Mingxing
Source: http://www.hunan.gov.cn
Editor: Shuangyi
English: Qiux
