Industrial pollution prevention and control is the focus of China's environmental protection work. Compared with the past, China's industrial pollution prevention and control strategy is now undergoing significant changes, gradually shifting from end-of-pipe to source and whole-process control, from concentration control to a combination of total and concentration control, from point-source to comprehensive watershed and regional management, and from simple corporate governance to adjustment of industrial structure, cleaner production and development of circular economy. Compared with 1995, in 2004 the national emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) of industrial wastewater, industrial chemical oxygen demand, industrial sulfur dioxide, industrial soot and industrial dust fell by 58%, 72%, 42%, 55% and 39% respectively. Compared with 1990, in 2004, the national energy consumption per 10,000 yuan RMB GDP dropped by 45%, saving and using less energy by 700 million tons of standard coal; coal consumption for thermal power supply, comparable energy consumption per ton of steel, and comprehensive energy consumption of cement were reduced by 11.2%, 29.6% and 21.9% respectively.
-- Eliminate and close a number of technologically backward, seriously polluting and resource-wasting enterprises. During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" (1996-2000), the state closed 84,000 small enterprises that seriously wasted resources and polluted the environment. 2001-2004, three consecutive catalogs were issued to phase out outdated production capacity, processes and products, eliminating more than 30,000 enterprises that wasted resources and polluted the environment. In 2005, it shut down more than 2,600 enterprises in iron and steel, cement, ferroalloys, coking, paper making, textile printing and dyeing, etc., which were seriously polluting and did not conform to industrial policies, and it also suspended the construction of cement, ferroalloys, paper making, textile printing and dyeing, etc., which were seriously polluting and did not conform to industrial policies. In 2005, it shut down more than 2,600 enterprises of iron and steel, cement, ferroalloy, coking, paper making, textile printing and dyeing, etc., which were not in line with industrial policies, and actively carried out comprehensive treatment and technological transformation of heavy polluting industries such as cement, electric power, iron and steel, paper making and chemical industry, so that the intensity of major pollutant emissions of these industries showed a continuous downward trend despite the annual increase in production.
-- Carrying out circular economy practices. First, the implementation of clean production, the full use of resources at the source and throughout the process of enterprise production, waste minimization, resource utilization, harmless, and gradually establish the extended producer responsibility system to promote product eco-design. At present, more than 5,000 enterprises in the chemical, light industry, electric power, coal, machinery, building materials and other industries have passed clean production audits, and more than 12,000 enterprises nationwide have obtained ISO14000 environmental management system certification, while more than 800 enterprises with more than 18,000 specifications of products have obtained environmental labeling certification, with an annual output value of about RMB 60 billion. Secondly, eco-industry is being actively developed in areas of industrial concentration, so that the wastes of upstream enterprises can become the raw materials of downstream enterprises, extending the production chain, minimizing the amount of wastes generated, realizing "zero emission", and constructing eco-industrial zones, so as to realize the most effective utilization of resources in the region or group of enterprises. At present, China has established 17 different types of eco-industrial parks. Thirdly, it is planning the development of industry and agriculture, production and consumption, and urban and rural areas in an integrated manner, vigorously developing the resource recycling industry, and implementing sustainable production and consumption. The State has selected 82 units to carry out the first batch of circular economy pilot projects in key industries, key fields, industrial parks and relevant provinces and cities. Pilot work on the construction of recycling systems for renewable resources has been carried out in 24 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. Hainan, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other 9 provinces actively carry out the construction of ecological provinces, the country's 150 counties and cities to carry out the creation of ecological counties (cities).
-Actively preventing environmental emergencies: In 2005, the Chinese government formulated the "National Emergency Response Plan for Environmental Emergencies", which puts forward clear requirements for the reception, reporting, processing and statistical analysis of information on environmental emergencies, as well as the monitoring of early-warning information and the release of information. The State has formulated and improved nine relevant environmental emergency response plans, including the water environment emergency response plan for sensitive waters in key basins, the air environment emergency response plan, the hazardous chemicals (waste chemicals) emergency response plan, and the nuclear and radiation emergency response plan, as well as the Water Environment Emergency Response Plan for the Sensitive Sections of the Yellow River Basin, the Emergency Response Plan for Disposal of Chemical Terrorist Attacks, the Emergency Response Plan for Disposal of Nuclear and Radiation Terrorist Attacks, and the Emergency Response Plan for Agricultural Environmental Pollution Emergencies. Emergency Response Plan for Agricultural Environmental Pollution Emergencies", "Emergency Response Plan for Major Agricultural Pests and Exotic Biological Invasions Emergencies" and other emergency response plans for environmental emergencies. In recent years, China has conducted environmental risk screening of 127 key chemical and petrochemical projects located near environmentally sensitive areas such as river, lake and sea coastlines, densely populated areas, and nature reserves across the country; and conducted comprehensive, dragnet-style inspections of nearly 50,000 key enterprises.
--Implementing a whole-process management system for industrial hazardous waste. in 2003, the State began to implement the National Plan for the Construction of Hazardous Waste and Medical Waste Disposal Facilities, and strengthened the systems for the transfer of industrial hazardous waste, operating licenses, and so on. in 2005, the amount of industrial hazardous waste disposed of increased from 1.31 million tons in 1998 to 3.39 million tons. In 2005, the volume of industrial hazardous waste disposed of increased from 1.31 million tons in 1998 to 3.39 million tons. Solid waste management centers have been established in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government.
--Strict nuclear and radiation environmental safety management has been implemented. China*** has five nuclear power plants (nine nuclear units) and 18 research reactors in operation, and two nuclear power plants (four nuclear units) and one research reactor under construction, with no major nuclear safety problems, thus realizing the goal of "protecting workers, the public and the environment from radiation exposure and contamination exceeding the limits set by the State". China strictly abides by the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and implements a licensing system that stipulates that the import and export of radioactive sources must be authorized and approved in accordance with the law.
Three key areas for pollution control
In recent years, the Chinese government has put the "Three Rivers" (Huaihe, Liaohe and Haihe), "Three Lakes" (Taihu Lake, Dianchi Lake and Chaohu Lake), national key projects (Three Gorges Project and South-to-North Water Diversion Project), "Two Control Areas", and "Two Control Zones" under the supervision of the Chinese government. The "two control zones" (sulfur dioxide control zone and acid rain control zone), "a city" (Beijing), "a sea" (Bohai Sea) as the national pollution prevention and control of key areas, to achieve obvious results.
-- Key watershed water pollution prevention and control. "Three rivers", "three lakes" basin area of 810,000 square kilometers, across the country's 14 provinces (municipalities), the population of 360 million people. The State has formulated and implemented plans for the prevention and control of water pollution in key river basins during the Ninth and Tenth Five-Year Plans (2001-2005), implemented a system for controlling the total amount of pollutants, and set targets for reducing the total amount of pollutants to the sewage disposal units. A total pollutant control system has been implemented, total reduction targets have been set for discharging units, the management of discharge permits has been gradually improved, and a number of key control projects have been constructed. By the end of 2005, 1,378 of the 2,130 projects included in the Tenth Five-Year Plan for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in Key Basins had been completed, accounting for 65% of the total number of projects. The sewage treatment plants in the "Three Rivers" and "Three Lakes" basins have been completed and are under construction, with a daily treatment capacity of 20.93 million tons; more than 80% of the more than 5,000 key polluting enterprises in the basins have achieved discharge standards. At present, water pollutants in the basin have been substantially reduced, the trend of deterioration of the water environment has basically been brought under control, and the water quality of some river sections and lakes has been significantly improved. The State has invested RMB 18.167 billion in building a number of urban sewage and garbage treatment facilities in the Three Gorges Reservoir area and its upper reaches, and has cleaned up solid waste at the bottom of the reservoir to ensure the safety of water quality in the reservoir area.
--Pollution prevention and control in the "two control zones": In 1998, the Chinese government approved the delineation of acid rain control zones and sulfur dioxide control zones, involving 175 cities and districts in 27 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, with a total area of about 109,000 square kilometers. The total area is about 1.09 million square kilometers. The State carries out energy restructuring in the "two control zones", promoting clean fuels and low-sulphur coal, and banning the use of loose coal in civilian stoves in large and medium-sized cities. Compared with 1998, the proportion of cities within the sulfur dioxide control zones whose average annual concentration of sulfur dioxide met the standard increased from 32.8% to 45.2% in 2005; the proportion of cities within the acid rain control zones whose average annual concentration of sulfur dioxide exceeded the national level 3 standard decreased from 15.7% to 4.5% in 2005.
--Beijing's air pollution control. Since 1998, Beijing has continuously implemented air pollution control measures. Natural gas, electric heating, ground-source heat pumps, building energy saving and other clean energy utilization technologies and energy-saving technologies have been further promoted, and by 2005, the amount of natural gas used in Beijing had reached 3.2 billion cubic meters, and the centralized heating area of the city's heat network had exceeded 100 million square meters; the management of motor vehicle emissions has been strictly enforced, with the implementation of environmental protection marking management for in-use motor vehicles, the adoption of restrictive measures for high-emission yellow-labeled vehicles, and the elimination of 30% of the old motor vehicles. More than 300,000 motor vehicles have been eliminated, 2,800 natural gas buses have been developed, and the third stage of the national emission standard (equivalent to the European Standard No. 3) was implemented ahead of schedule in 2005; the standards for environmental protection at construction sites have been revised and improved, the management of construction sites has been increased, the supervision and inspection of mechanical sweeping, flushing and spraying of dust have been strengthened, and more than 100 polluting enterprises in the urban area have been shut down and relocated, and the city's cement kiln production lines have all been shut down. The city's cement kiln production lines have all been shut down. As a result of active management, the number of days in which the quality of Beijing's atmospheric environment was second class or better than second class increased from 100 in 1998 to 234 in 2005, and the concentration of various air pollutants generally declined, significantly improving air quality.
--Bohai Sea Pollution Control: In 2001, the Chinese government approved the Bohai Sea Action Plan. By the end of 2005, 166 environmental protection projects of various kinds of Bohai Sea pollution control have been completed, and 70 projects are under construction, with an investment of 17.5 billion yuan, of which 44 new urban sewage treatment plants have been built to form a sewage treatment capacity of 3.553 million tons per day, 18 new municipal garbage disposal yards have been built to form a garbage treatment capacity of more than 7,000 tons per day, and 89 new ecological agriculture and ecological aquaculture projects have been built.
Four, urban environmental protection
China's urbanization rate has increased from 29.04% in 1995 to 41.76% in 2004. In response to the environmental problems associated with the rapid development of urbanization, the Chinese government has taken a series of comprehensive measures to gradually improve the urban environment, and the quality of the environment in some cities has improved markedly. Compared with 1996, in 2005 the proportion of cities with air quality meeting the national secondary standard increased by 31 percentage points, and the proportion of cities with air quality inferior to the national tertiary standard decreased by 39 percentage points.
From the standpoint of urban environmental capacity and resource guarantee ability, many cities in China have formulated and implemented urban master plans and plans for comprehensively attaining the standard of urban environmental quality according to functional zones, measured the capacity of the atmospheric and water environments, reasonably determined the scale and direction of development of the cities, adjusted the structure of the urban industry and spatial layout, and gradually optimized the functional zoning of the cities. Many large and medium-sized cities in the development of urban areas to implement the "two into three" strategy, that is, exit the secondary industry into the tertiary industry, the closure of a number of seriously polluting enterprises, the use of land price leverage to move some of the polluting enterprises out of the urban areas, in accordance with the "industry into the park, centralized pollution control In accordance with the principle of "industrial parks, centralized pollution control", technological transformation and centralized pollution control were implemented. Some cities have combined the transformation of old cities with the adjustment of urban layout to solve the problem of dirty old cities and improve the living environment of residents; vigorously adjusting the urban energy structure, actively promoting clean energy and centralized heating, and mitigating the pollution caused by coal combustion. Promote the use of ready-mixed concrete in urban construction projects, and prohibit on-site mixing of concrete in urban areas for municipalities directly under the central government, provincial-level municipalities, some large and medium-sized cities, and tourist cities, so as to reduce dust pollution from construction sites.
China's governments at all levels have made the construction of urban environmental infrastructure a priority for financial investment, promoting the construction of urban sewage and garbage treatment facilities. By the end of 2004, the urban sewage treatment rate had reached 46 percent, the rate of harmless treatment of urban domestic garbage had reached 52 percent, and the rate of clean energy use in urban areas had reached 40 percent. In recent years, motor vehicle emission standards have been raised from national stage I standards to national stage II standards, and national stage III standards have been set. A number of cities have launched clean-vehicle campaigns, actively promoting clean-fuel vehicles using low-polluting natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Since July 2000, the country has stopped the sale and use of leaded gasoline, reducing lead emissions by 1,500 tons per year.
More than 500 cities nationwide have carried out quantitative assessments of comprehensive urban environmental improvement, quantifying the quality of the urban environment, pollution prevention and control work and the construction of urban environmental infrastructure, and comprehensively evaluating the environmental protection work of city governments. Since 1997, activities to create model cities for environmental protection have been carried out in accordance with the requirements of economic development, social progress, perfect facilities and environmental improvement. At present, more than 100 cities (districts) throughout the country*** are creating model environmental protection cities, of which 56 cities and five urban areas of municipalities directly under the central government have succeeded in doing so. The number of days in which the air quality of national model cities for environmental protection reaches the second level or better than the second level is greater than 80%, the urban sewage treatment rate is greater than 70%, the rate of harmless treatment of domestic garbage is greater than 80%, and the rate of urban green coverage is greater than 35%, which is higher than the national average, and the "blue sky, green water, green land, tranquility and harmony" has become an important symbol of the environment of model cities for environmental protection. Environmental protection model city environment is an important symbol.
In recent years, the state vigorously carry out urban gardening and greening work, the construction of national garden cities, improve the living environment. By the end of 2004, the national urban green coverage rate of 31.66%, the green space rate of 27.72%, per capita public **** green space area of 7.39 square meters, respectively, compared with 2000, an increase of 3.51%, 4.05% and 3.7 square meters, of which the per capita green space area of public **** doubled. At present, the country has named 83 national garden city, garden city 4, 10 national garden county, and 12 cities won the "China Habitat Environment Example Award".
V. Environmental Protection in Rural Areas
China is a large agricultural country, with the majority of its population living in rural areas. Preventing and controlling agricultural pollution and improving the rural environment are important tasks in China's environmental protection.
--Comprehensive improvement of the rural environment. In recent years, the Chinese government has carried out the creation of environmentally beautiful townships and eco-civilized villages in the vast rural areas to promote the comprehensive improvement of the rural environment. At present, 178 townships nationwide have been awarded the title of "National Environmentally Beautiful Townships". The State focuses on the "Three Lakes" region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Yellow River Delta, and carries out demonstrations for the comprehensive prevention and control of livestock, poultry and fishery pollution and surface pollution. Some provinces and municipalities have increased their efforts to improve the environment of villages and rural infrastructure, and have made some progress in the management of sewage, garbage and agricultural surface pollution in rural areas. In recent years, the State has built more than 800,000 rural drinking water projects of various kinds, solving the drinking water difficulties and insecurity of more than 67 million rural people. It has carried out national soil pollution surveys and demonstrations of pollution prevention and control, and established a system for testing and supervising the safety of agricultural products; it has strengthened the management of the environmental safety of pesticides and fertilizers, promoted highly efficient, low-toxicity and low-residue chemical pesticides, and banned the use of highly toxic and high-residue pesticides in the production of vegetables, fruits, grains, tea, and traditional Chinese herbs; it has prevented the surface-source pollution brought about by the irrational use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural films, and sewage irrigation, and has ensured the safety of agricultural products; Development and production of new types of safe, high-quality and efficient feed, improve feed absorption and utilization rate, reduce drug residues in aquaculture products and the emission of harmful substances; promote the comprehensive utilization of livestock and poultry manure and treatment technology, and encourage the construction of farming and planting close integration of ecological agricultural projects.
--Eco-agriculture and ecological demonstration area construction. The Chinese government has taken the construction of ecological agriculture as an important measure to promote the comprehensive and coordinated development of the rural economy and ecological environment. At present, the number of counties building ecological agriculture has reached more than 400 nationwide, and the number of counties and cities carrying out the construction of demonstration zones has reached more than 500, of which 102 are national-level ecological agriculture counties and 233 are national-level ecological demonstration zones. In recent years, organic food-related management and development mechanisms continue to improve, the introduction of the "Organic Food Certification Management Measures", "National Standard for Organic Food"; the introduction of the National Standard for Good Agricultural Practices and certification and implementation rules, to carry out governance at the source; to carry out the creation of national organic food production bases, has been named the 43 national organic food production bases, to promote the development of the industrialization of organic food. The national organic certification area exceeds 3 million hectares.
-Development of dry-crop water-saving agriculture. As of 2005, the State had invested more than 700 million yuan in building more than 460 demonstration bases for dry farming and water-saving agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas where water resources are scarce, comprehensively applying agronomic, biological and engineering measures as well as dry farming techniques, making full use of natural precipitation, improving the efficiency of water resources utilization and agricultural production capacity, and controlling water and soil erosion. The State has actively promoted conservation tillage, launching conservation tillage projects that focus on straw mulching, no-till sowing, deep-pine and weed-removal techniques, and establishing two conservation tillage belts, focusing on the Beijing-Tianjin ring and the northwestern wind and sand source areas. By the end of 2005,*** 100 demonstration counties had been established.
-- New Rural Energy Construction. The development and popularization of new rural energy is an important means of protecting and improving the rural ecological environment. "During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, the State has invested 3.5 billion yuan, focusing on the promotion of energy and ecological models linked to biogas construction. By the end of 2005, the number of biogas users nationwide had reached more than 17 million, producing 6.5 billion cubic meters of biogas annually. The State has vigorously developed biogas projects for livestock and poultry breeding waste, and has built more than 2,200 such projects, with an annual treatment of more than 60 million tons of livestock and poultry manure; it has built 137,000 biogas digesters for the purification of domestic wastewater, and more than 500 centralized gas supply projects for the gasification of straw; and it has promoted wood-saving stoves for 189 million households and solar water heaters for 28.5 million square metres. At the same time, also actively promote the use of solar cookers, wind energy, geothermal and other renewable energy.
VI. Ecological Protection and Construction
After a long period of unremitting efforts, the ecological environment in some areas of China has begun to improve.
-- Afforestation and greening. The Chinese government has established the forestry development guideline of focusing on ecological construction, carried out large-scale afforestation, strengthened forest resource management, initiated the forest ecological benefit compensation system, and created an area of forests that has exceeded 6.67 million hectares for four consecutive years since 2002. In recent years, the area of forests and forest reserves have increased rapidly, the structure of forest age and forest phase has tended to be rationalized, and the quality of forests has tended to be improved, realizing a historic turnaround from a continuous decline to a gradual increase. At present, the national forest area has reached 175 million hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 18.21 per cent and a forest stock of 12.456 billion cubic metres. The State attaches importance to the construction of forestry ecological projects. Since 1998, China has carried out projects to protect natural forest resources, return farmland to forests, construct protective forest systems in the "Three Norths" (Northeast, North China and Northwest China) and the Yangtze River Basin, manage the Beijing-Tianjin wind and sand source, protect wild animals and plants and construct nature reserves, and construct fast-growing and productive timber forest bases in key areas, etc. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, the natural forest resources protection project*** created 8 million hectares of ecological public welfare forests, and 93.33 million hectares of forest resources were rested and recuperated; the project of returning farmland to forests*** accomplished the afforestation of 21.33 million hectares, of which the ecological fallowing was 5.38 million hectares, afforestation of barren mountains and wasteland was 12 million hectares, and the closing of mountains to forests was 133 The Beijing-Tianjin Sand Source Treatment Project*** has completed the treatment of 6.67 million hectares; the "Three Norths" and the Yangtze River Basin and other key protection forest projects have afforested 3.41 million hectares, and 3.46 million hectares have been newly afforested.
-- Grassland protection. In order to strengthen the ecological construction and planning and management of grassland, the strategic focus of grassland work to realize the change from economic goals to "ecological, economic and social goals, ecological priority", the grassland vegetation has been effectively restored, the grassland ecological environment gradually improved. The State's investment in grassland protection and construction has continued to increase; from 2000 to 2005, the central financial administration*** invested more than RMB 9 billion in the implementation of projects such as the restoration and construction of natural grassland vegetation, grassland fencing, pasture seed bases, the return of pasture to grassland, and grassland eco-construction under the Beijing-Tianjin wind and sand source control project, which have achieved good ecological, economic and social benefits. By the end of 2005, the cumulative area reserved for artificial grass seeding nationwide had reached 13 million hectares, the area of grassland improvement had reached 14 million hectares, the grassland fencing had reached 33 million hectares, and 20% of the usable grassland had been subjected to grazing bans, grazing moratoriums, and the designation of areas for rotational grazing.
--Land protection, development and improvement. The Chinese government takes the protection of arable land as a basic state policy and implements a strict policy of protecting arable land. The State has designated basic farmland protection zones to provide an important basis for ensuring food security. At the same time, a land-use control system has been established to strictly control the total amount and structure of land used for construction, thus curbing the indiscriminate occupation of arable land; the occupation of arable land for construction purposes fell by 37 per cent in 2004 compared with the previous year, and a quantitative balance of land occupation and replenishment has been achieved in general. The State has also stepped up land development and consolidation efforts, established a project management system for land development and consolidation, and organized the implementation of State-invested land development and consolidation projects, so as to maintain the dynamic balance of the total amount of arable land and improve the ecological environment. "During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, through scientific land development and reclamation of rural and urban land, land destroyed in disasters, and abandoned land in industrial and mining areas, 76,000 hectares of land were reclaimed, and a number of new rural villages with well-organized layouts and good ecological environments were built, and the ecological environment of some resource-exhausted cities and key mining areas was further governed and restored. The ecological environment of some resource-exhausted cities and key mining areas has been further managed and restored.
--Soil and water conservation. The state implements a number of special projects such as the Beijing-Tianjin wind and sand source management, soil and water conservation for the sustainable use of water resources in the capital, soil and water conservation silt dams in the Loess Plateau area, comprehensive prevention and control of soil and water erosion in the Northeast Black Soil Area and the upper reaches of the Pearl River in the South Beipanjiang Limestone Area, etc., and the key prevention and control of soil and water erosion has been expanded from the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River to the Northeast Black Soil Area, the upper reaches of the Pearl River, and the Beijing-Tianjin Rim area. The State has carried out the construction of demonstration zones and demonstration projects, and has built more than 300 soil and water conservation projects covering an area of more than 200 square kilometers, 190 soil and water conservation ecological construction demonstration counties, and 1,398 demonstration sub-watersheds, and has begun the implementation of the first batch of 62 demonstration zones covering an area of not less than 300 square kilometers and more than 50 soil and water conservation science and technology demonstration parks. Soil and water conservation ecological restoration pilot projects have been carried out in 188 counties across the country, and all national soil and water conservation key project areas have been fully protected by sealing, with an area of 126,000 square kilometers, and soil and water conservation preventive protection projects have been carried out in the "Three Rivers Source Area". At present, 980 counties in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) have fully or partially implemented mountain grazing closures, with a closed area of more than 600,000 square kilometers, and the vegetation cover in the closed areas has been restored relatively quickly. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, the country comprehensively treated an area of 240,200 square kilometers of soil erosion, comprehensively improved more than 11,500 small watersheds, constructed 4.06 million hectares of basic farmland, created 15.33 million hectares of soil and water conservation forests, fruit forests, and water conservation forests, and constructed more than 3.5 million small-scale soil and water conservation projects, such as sand dams and slope water systems, and more than 3.5 million soil and water conservation projects, as well as more than 3 million soil and water conservation projects. More than 3.5 million small-scale soil and water conservation projects such as sand dams and slope water systems have been constructed, and 7,000 silt dams have been built.
--Preventing and treating sand. The Chinese government has taken the prevention of land desertification and desertification as a strategic measure to improve the ecological environment, expand the space for survival and development, and promote coordinated and sustainable economic and social development, promulgating and implementing the Law on Sand Control and Prevention, approving the National Plan for Sand Control and Prevention (2005-2010), and issuing the Decision on Further Strengthening Sand Control and Prevention, and implementing a number of key projects to prevent and control sand. A number of key projects have been carried out to prevent and treat desertification, resulting in a net reduction in the areas of desertified and sandy land at the same time. By the end of 2004, the area of desertified land nationwide was 2,636,200 square kilometers, and the area of sandy land was 1,739,700 square kilometers; compared with 1999, the area of desertified land nationwide in the five-year period had been reduced by a net 37,924 square kilometers, and the area of sandy land had been reduced by a net 6,416 square kilometers; the degree of desertification and sandiness was reduced, and the area of serious and extremely serious desertification was reduced by 245,900 square kilometers. The degree of land desertification and desertification has been reduced, with the area of serious and extremely serious desertification decreasing by 245,900 square kilometers. The overall expansion of desertification and desertification has been initially curbed.
-Marine environmental protection. China has basically formed a legal system and an administrative and law enforcement system for marine environmental protection, constructed a network for monitoring the marine environment, and formulated and implemented the zoning of marine functional areas and the zoning of environmental functions in near-shore areas, so as to rationally develop and protect marine resources, prevent marine pollution and ecological damage, and promote the sustainable development of the marine economy. The Chinese Government actively implements pollution prevention and control plans for major rivers entering the sea and environmental protection plans for key sea areas. Following the Bohai Sea, the Chinese Government initiated pollution control work in the mouth of the Yangtze River and adjacent sea areas and the mouth of the Pearl River and adjacent sea areas in 2005, and has carried out simultaneous environmental monitoring and surveys in the mouth of the Yangtze River and the mouth of the Pearl River and their adjacent sea areas on land and in the sea, taking into account the integration of rivers and the sea and land and sea areas. The Chinese Government strictly enforces the approval system for marine engineering and dumping at sea, strengthens law enforcement surveillance of dumping activities, and enhances marine environmental monitoring. The State has approved the Emergency Response Plan for Red Tide Disasters and the Emergency Response Plan for Major Oil Spills from Marine Petroleum Exploration and Development, which have been incorporated into the National Disaster Emergency Management System, and initially set up an emergency response mechanism for marine disasters. It has strengthened the prevention and control of pollution from ships and the management of the transportation of dangerous goods, and is actively promoting the construction of an oil spill contingency system for ships at sea. By the end of 2004, China had established 120 marine nature reserves at all levels, with a number of rare marine species protected and important habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds protected. Marine fishery resources have been protected and restored through measures such as controlling the intensity of fishing, reducing the number of fishing vessels, improving the system of fishing moratoriums, establishing protected areas for fishery resources, and implementing a "zero-growth" rate of marine capture production.
--Construction of nature reserves, ecological function reserves and scenic spots. The Chinese government has taken the establishment of nature reserves as an important measure to protect the ecological environment. By the end of 2005, 2,349 nature reserves of various types at all levels had been established throughout the country***, covering an area of 1.5 million square kilometers, or about 15% of the land area, initially forming a nationwide network of nature reserves of a relatively complete type and a reasonable layout; 85% of the country's terrestrial ecosystem types, 85% of its wildlife populations, and 65% of the types of its natural plant communities have been protected. The State has carried out the construction of ecological function reserve areas in river headwaters areas, important water-source containment areas, river flood storage areas, windbreak and sand-fixing areas, as well as other areas with important ecological functions, and has conducted pilot projects for national-level ecological function reserve areas in 18 typical areas, such as the source of the Dongjiang River, the Dongting Lake, and the Qinling Mountains. Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Gansu, Qinghai and other provinces (autonomous regions) have carried out the construction of local-level protected ecological function areas. At present, there are 677 scenic spots audited and named by the Chinese government, of which 187 are national key scenic spots. National key scenic spots and nature reserves such as Mount Tai, Mount Huangshan, Mount Emei and Mount Leishan, Mount Wuyi, Mount Lu, Wulingyuan, Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong, Mount Qingcheng and Mount Dujiangyan, and the Three Parallel Streams of the Yangtze River are listed in UNESCO's "World Heritage List" or the "International Network of Man and the Biosphere Reserves" and the "List of Wetlands of International Importance", respectively. List of Wetlands of International Importance. There are more than 1,900 forest parks nationwide, including 627 national forest parks. There are 85 national geoparks in the country, among which eight geoparks, including Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province, Mount Lu in Jiangxi Province, Yuntai Mountain in Henan Province, Shilin in Yunnan Province, Danxia Mountain in Guangdong Province, Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, Wudalianchi in Heilongjiang Province, and Songshan Mountain in Henan Province, were the first to enter the list of the World Geoparks Network.
--Biodiversity conservation. China is a country very rich in biodiversity, and the country has formulated the Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation in China, compiled the National Situation Study Report on China's Biodiversity, and prepared the Plan for the Conservation and Utilization of Biological Species Resources. At present, 250 wildlife rescue and breeding bases have been established throughout the country*** and more than 400 wild plant germplasm resource conservation or gene preservation centers have been set up, enabling more than 200 species of rare and endangered wild animals and thousands of wild plants to establish stable artificial populations. At the same time, surveys and salvage collections of wild plant resources under national key protection have been carried out, and 67 protected areas for the original habitats of agricultural wild plants have been established. A national survey of invasive alien species was carried out, and the "Ten Provinces and Hundred Counties" campaign to eliminate poisonous and harmful invasive alien organisms was launched, raising public awareness and ability to prevent invasive alien organisms. Seventy-one percent of the 189 species of wild plants surveyed in the national wild plant resources survey have reached the standard of stable survival and development; 55.7 percent of the 252 species of wild animals surveyed in the national wild animal survey have seen their populations steadily increase, and the populations of rare and endangered wild animals such as the Yangzi crocodile and the Crested Ibis have increased exponentially, while the number of wild pandas has reached 1,596, and the number of artificially captive-bred pandas has reached 183. The distribution areas of some species are gradually expanding, and new records, breeding sites or wintering grounds for species such as black-billed gulls and black-faced spoonbills are constantly being discovered. The cliff cypress, which has not been seen for more than a hundred years and has been declared a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has been rediscovered.