Beautiful China Builds Stronger Green Foundation, Deputies and Members Offer Suggestions for Green Transition

Over the past year, China has achieved remarkable progress in ecological and environmental protection, with its "green assets" continuously expanding. The average PM2.5 concentration in cities at or above the prefecture level dropped by 4.4%, the proportion of surface water sections with excellent water quality rose to 91.4%, the installed capacity of new energy storage exceeded 130 million kilowatts, the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption reached 21.7%, and energy consumption per unit of GDP decreased by 5.1%.

This year’s Government Work Report proposes accelerating the comprehensive green transition, taking carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as the guide to coordinate decarbonization, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth, and enhance the momentum of green development. Focusing on this goal, deputies and members at the Two Sessions have put forward constructive suggestions.

An NPC deputy, who has long been engaged in ecological protection work, noted that the protection of a famous pine tree in Huangshan has evolved from single-person round-the-clock duty to professional team guardianship, and further to collaborative governance involving guardians, judicial departments, scenic area management and the public. This process is a vivid microcosm of China’s improving ecological governance system.

"Ecological protection is never a one-person battle or a short-term campaign, but a systematic project and a long-term cause," he said, emphasizing the need to strengthen frontline professional protection forces, provide solid legal guarantees and improve linkage mechanisms.

A CPPCC member suggested giving play to the leading role of Sanjiangyuan National Park, China’s first national park system pilot located in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and establishing a protective, open and shared national ecological protection and development system.

Another NPC deputy shared her experience in promoting comprehensive straw utilization. Her suggestion submitted at last year’s Two Sessions received prompt responses from relevant departments, and her county has since been included in the list of 400 national model counties for comprehensive straw utilization. "We convert straw, chestnut shells and medicinal residues into forage for sheep, and sheep manure is used as organic fertilizer for farmland," she explained.

This model not only reduces carbon emissions from straw burning, improves soil organic matter and the ecological environment, but also lowers breeding costs and increases the added value of agricultural products. "The green mountains and clear waters at our doorstep have long become the golden mountains and silver mountains for the people," she added.

A CPPCC member introduced that Nujiang Prefecture in Yunnan Province is vigorously developing the green lead-zinc industry with the support of policies and its resource endowments, promoting the construction of "China’s Green Lead-Zinc Capital" to foster new development momentum.

The green transformation of traditional energy and technological progress are also reshaping the consumer market. A CPPCC member engaged in energy research noted that the development of new productive forces in the energy sector has turned green consumption from a concept into reality, with green methanol and sustainable aviation kerosene being promoted at an accelerated pace, which strengthens energy security and drives the development of new power systems and green shipping.

"Both supply and demand sides are working together, and people are willing to make joint efforts for a green and efficient lifestyle," he said, suggesting breaking through bottlenecks in achievement transformation, converting technological advantages into product advantages, and boosting green, intelligent and service consumption.

A CPPCC member focusing on forestry development pointed out that under-forest economy is an important carrier of the "Two Mountains" concept. In Guangxi, which boasts high forest coverage and rich biodiversity, developing under-forest economy is an effective way to convert green resources into economic benefits, such as interplanting medicinal materials under forests to increase forestland benefits and drive farmers’ income.

He proposed extending the industrial chain, strengthening technological empowerment and improving benefit linkage mechanisms to ensure that technological dividends benefit forest farmers.

Regarding industrial decarbonization, an NPC deputy introduced an integrated solution of "energy efficiency AI optimization + energy storage power stations + smart energy management" to build a coordinated microgrid for high-energy-consuming enterprises. He emphasized that new energy storage is the key to energy green transition, requiring joint efforts from technology, market and policy sectors.

A CPPCC member engaged in environmental remediation said that green development has become a "must-answer question" for high-quality development. His enterprise has focused on the resource utilization of solid waste, converting industrial solid wastes such as phosphogypsum and red mud into renewable resources, realizing the transformation of waste into valuable products.

Another NPC deputy suggested including prefabricated integrated toilets and kitchens in the national consumer goods trade-in subsidy scope, learning from the experience of automobile and household appliance subsidies to simplify the application process. He noted that such products can significantly reduce construction waste, noise and formaldehyde pollution, promoting pollution reduction and decarbonization from the source.