(Xinhua/Ju Peng)
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for opening up new horizons in ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while convening a meeting in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu Province.
He said efforts in this regard should be boosted by further deepening reform on all fronts.
He called for raising ecological protection in the entire river basin to a new level, achieving new progress in green transformation and bringing new improvements to people’s lives.
It is necessary to continuously improve the overall framework of ecological protection and collaboration in the Yellow River Basin to strengthen national ecological security shields, Xi said.
He urged continued efforts to intensify the fight against pollution, with emphasis on the management of major tributaries as well as major lakes and reservoirs.
He stressed the importance of accelerating ultra-low emission upgrades in key sectors and vigorously promoting the clean and efficient use of coal.
Efforts should be made to implement policies and standards regarding budget, tax, investment and pricing to support green and low-carbon development, he added.
Xi called for efforts to explore the establishment of a market-based and diversified basin-wide compensation mechanism for ecological conservation.
The most rigorous system for the protection and use of water resources must be implemented, he noted.
He stressed the need to improve the disaster prevention and reduction system. According to him, the water regulation system centered around major water conservation projects such as key reservoirs must be improved.
He emphasized efforts to ensure the safety of dikes, reservoirs and other important infrastructure projects.
Xi urged efforts to develop a green and low-carbon economy and accelerate the replacement of fossil fuels with clean energy in key industries.
Xi stressed the need to comprehensively deepen reform and expand opening-up, calling on local regions to actively participate in building a unified national market and resolutely eliminate all forms of local protectionism.
Efforts should be made to deepen reform related to state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, and fully implement policies and measures to promote the development of the private economy, Xi noted.
The country should coordinate the pursuit of new urbanization and rural revitalization, Xi said.
Employment should be given top priority, Xi said, adding that expanding employment capacity should be given priority in urban industrial development and rural industrial cultivation.
Efforts should be made to protect and promote the Yellow River culture, strengthen the comprehensive and systemic protection of cultural and natural heritage, and advance archaeological work, Xi stressed.
Party committees and governments of provinces and regions along the Yellow River should shoulder major responsibilities, and people from all sectors of society should be motivated, he said.
He also urged ensuring healthy economic work at the end of the third quarter and throughout the last quarter, and striving to achieve annual economic and social development goals.
Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, attended the meeting.
