CQ Daily Focus | Solid Efforts, Tangible Results, Lasting Impact: Fortifying the Green Foundation - Chongqing's Conference on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Building a Beautiful Chongqing Sparks Enthusiastic Response

On the morning of January 5, the Chinese Hall of Yuzhou State Guest Hotel was brimming with enthusiasm as Chongqing convened a major Conference on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Building a Beautiful Chongqing. 

The conference proposed adhering to the principle of prioritizing ecological conservation and green development, strengthening protection efforts while avoiding excessive development. It emphasized accelerating the construction of Chongqing as a provincial-level pioneer zone for a Beautiful China, further playing a demonstrative role in advancing green development within the Yangtze River Economic Belt. This aims to provide strong support for striving to compose the Chongqing chapter of Chinese path to modernization.

"The 15th Five-Year Plan period is a crucial stage for consolidating the achievements in implementing the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy and propelling the construction of a Beautiful Chongqing to new heights. We must continue to bear our mission in mind and forge ahead with determination!" Following the meeting, attendees unanimously expressed their commitment to continuously fortify the green foundation for building a modern new Chongqing through solid efforts, tangible outcomes, and lasting impact. Their goal is to explore experience models and provide benchmark examples for the construction of a Beautiful China.

Deepening Integrated Protection and Restoration of Ecosystems

"At the tenth anniversary of the implementation of the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy, Chongqing's convening of this conference is of great significance and far-reaching impact," said Liu Qin, a member of the Leading Party Members' Group and Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau. As the lead department for building a Beautiful Chongqing, the bureau feels a profound sense of responsibility and honor in its mission.

Moving forward, Chongqing will take the conference as an opportunity to steadfastly adhere to the principles of prioritizing protection, avoiding excessive development, and emphasizing ecological conservation and green development. The municipality will accelerate efforts to build itself into a provincial-level pioneer zone for a Beautiful China, deepen and refine the "Nine Governance" initiative in ecological governance system, continuously improve environmental quality, and persistently strengthen the crucial ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Liu Qin stated that Chongqing will leverage its demonstrative role to cultivate a series of landmark achievements that lead in western China, gain national recognition, and bear distinct Chongqing characteristics. This will contribute actively to achieving new and greater progress in advancing the construction of the provincial-level pioneer zone for a Beautiful China.

"As a pivotal node of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Liangjiang New Area will resolutely implement the conference's arrangements, anchoring our work in the overarching principle of prioritizing extensive protection and refraining from excessive development, thereby supporting high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment", said Yang Kunmin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ecology and Environment Bureau of the Liangjiang New Area.

Moving forward, Liangjiang New Area will take the integrated management of water and air as the lead to comprehensively advance the "Nine Governance" initiative, accelerate major projects like the fourth-phase expansion of the Tangjiatuo Wastewater Treatment Plant, and deepen the integrated reform of the river-lake-plant-network system to consolidate the long-term effectiveness in eliminating black and odorous water bodies in both urban and rural areas. The area will also promote shoreline remediation of the Luoqi section of the Yangtze River and the Shunshuisi section of the Jialing River, striving to enhance the beauty of the metropolis embraced by rivers and gorges, and holistically elevate the scenic waterfront lines along the "Two Rivers and Four Banks".

"In recent years, Beibei has pursued green and high-quality development for the entire district under the overarching framework of the comprehensive enhancement of the Jinyun Mountain area, focusing on building it into the central urban area's ecological 'green lung' and garden. This effort has successfully earned national-level ecological accolades such as the National Demonstration Zone for Eco-environmental Progress and the National 'Two Mountains' Practice and Innovation Base, said Lin Xuyang, Secretary of the Beibei District Committee of the CPC.

In the next step, Beibei will strive to fully meet the targets for carbon emission intensity and total control assigned during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, aiming to become one of the nation's first benchmark models for beautiful city construction. Specifically, the district will deepen systematic restoration by advancing the construction of 40 villages with "zero direct sewage discharge" and implementing five key projects including the national land greening demonstration project in the Three Gorges reservoir tail area of the upper Yangtze River. It will promote low-carbon transformation by strengthening innovation-driven development and expanding emerging industrial clusters, targeting a doubling of the output value of strategic emerging industries by 2026. Efforts will also be made to enhance the quality and efficiency of major eco-cultural tourism projects like the Jinguoyuan Cultural Tourism and Wellness project, and to accelerate the legislation of the Regulations on the Protection and Development of Jinyun Mountain in Chongqing Municipality.

"Wulong will firmly establish and practice the concept that 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,' dedicating full efforts to fortify the crucial ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and striving to create more landmark achievements with distinctive Wulong characteristics", said Fan Lixin, Secretary of the Wulong District Committee of the CPC.

First, the district will focus on protecting key ecological functional zones such as the Furong River, Daxi River, Fairy Mountain, and Baima Mountain, making every effort to safeguard the World Natural Heritage site. It aims to maintain the annual number of days with good air quality steadily above 350 and keep the water quality compliance rate at municipal-controlled and above monitoring sections at 100%. Second, the district will plan a rational layout for riverside parks, waterfront platforms, and fitness greenways, and carry out the renovation of old urban areas and urban renewal in an orderly manner. Third, it will comprehensively advance the three-dimensional development of the "water, land, and air" economy, deepen the national pilot for realizing the value of ecological products, and advance the forestry reform pilot in the Greater Fairy Mountain area.

"The conference has greatly inspired and invigorated me," said Wang Min, Secretary of the Party Branch of Ouying Village, Caotang Town, Fengjie County. As a village (community) Party branch secretary, she stated that in the future, she will fully implement the spirit of the conference, transforming the ecological benefits brought by 'lucid waters and lush mountains' into tangible economic wealth.

First, Fengjie County will scale up and strengthen the navel orange industry, refine and excel in the 'one village, one product' initiative, and actively promote the multi-level utilization of the 'navel orange + meat rabbit' integrated planting and breeding cycle. Second, the country will deepen the promotion of 'Greening Caotang, Blooming Ouying,' implement projects such as mountain afforestation, to create a unique landscape and charm for each village. Third, it will deeply explore local characteristic resources like orange-themed tourism and Agri-tourism, promoting the functional expansion and chain extension of agriculture from production towards ecology.

Implementing Dual Control of Carbon Emissions to Advance Comprehensive Green Transition

"This conference has sounded the clarion call for the entire municipality to advance the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt with greater intensity and more concrete measures," said Gao Jian, Director of the Chongqing Development and Reform Commission. He stated that in the next step, Chongqing will continue to steadfastly pursue the major protection of the Yangtze River, cultivate and expand green productive forces (productivity) based on local conditions, and strive to deliver a high-score answer sheet for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

First, the municipality will comprehensively implement the "Six Major Actions" for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, highlight the leadership of the "Dual Carbon" goals, focus on the "Nine Governance" initiative. It will continue to advance key tasks such as green and low-carbon transition, strengthen the integration and alignment of major strategies like the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, improve provincial consultation and cooperation mechanisms for adjacent areas, to form a synergistic development force among upstream and downstream, left and right banks, and main and tributary streams.

Second, Chongqing will continue to thoroughly implement the Three-Year Action Plan for Protecting the Yangtze River. In terms of "hard investments," efforts will be precisely focused on areas like industrial pollution control to expand the 'funding pool' for green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Regarding "soft infrastructure," reforms in the market-based allocation of resources and environmental factors will be deepened, introducing a series of pioneering, differentiated, and innovative reform measures that are replicable and scalable.

Third, Chongqing will systematically plan the key tasks for the 15th Five-Year Plan period and the year 2026, integrating the implementation of major policies, projects, reforms, and platforms for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and striving to create more landmark achievements with distinctive Chongqing characteristics and national influence.

"Wanzhou will earnestly strengthen our 'upstream consciousness,' resolutely shoulder our 'upstream responsibility,' and vigorously demonstrate our 'upstream commitment,' to create more landmark achievements that prioritize ecology and green development," said Li Qing, Deputy Secretary of the Wanzhou District Committee and District Governor of Wanzhou District.

Specifically, Wanzhou will use the "Nine Governance" initiative as a guide to deepen ecological protection, restoration, and pollution prevention and control. It will coordinate the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, thereby fortifying the crucial ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The district will enhance urban ecological quality by continuously optimizing urban ecological spaces, promoting the iterative upgrading of beautiful and harmonious villages across villages and towns, and excelling in the "Four Major Initiatives" of the "Greater Three Gorges, Great Pinghu Lake, Grand Countryside, and Grand Waterfalls." Wanzhou will also drive green transformation in development by iteratively upgrading the "3233" modern manufacturing system, fostering and expanding the circular economy industry, and actively developing clean energy and new energy storage.

"In recent years, Bishan has adhered to the path of prioritizing ecology and pursuing green development, continually polishing the name card of a 'Park City.' It has successfully become one of the nation's first and the municipality's inaugural beautiful countryside pilot zones, striving to empower and drive 'high-quality' economic and social development with the 'high aesthetic value' of its ecological environment," said Jiang Zhibin, Secretary of the Bishan District Committee of the CPC.

Moving forward, Bishan will coordinately advance carbon reduction, pollution control, green expansion, and growth. First, it will propel pollution prevention and control into deeper hard-fought battles, using its status as a National Demonstration Zone for Eco-environmental Progress to continually deepen mechanisms for basin horizontal compensation and cross-regional joint prevention and control, improve the ecological compensation mechanism for air quality, persistently consolidate the results of dynamically clearing rural black and odorous water bodies, and continuously enrich the green ecological foundation. Second, Bishan will accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of industrial clusters, scaling up and strengthening advantageous clusters like the intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry. It will expedite the construction of the Green and Low-Carbon Materials Industrial Park and the Circular Economy Industrial Park, and solidly advance the pilot near-zero-carbon industrial park. Third, Bishan will hasten the conversion of ecological value into economic value. Leveraging natural endowments like the Jinyun Mountain and Yunwu Mountain, it will vigorously develop the ecological wellness and cultural tourism industry, accelerate the completion of exemplary urban-rural cultural tourism projects such as "Yunwu Huajian," and promote the achievement of phased results in deepening the reform of the collective forest tenure system.

"At the tenth anniversary of implementing the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy, convening this conference is of great significance," said Li Yong, Secretary of the Fuling District Committee of the CPC. He stated that in the next step, Fuling will spare no effort to promote transformation, optimize structure, and strengthen momentum, accelerating the construction of a green manufacturing hub in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and striving to be a new force in green, low-carbon, and high-quality development.

First, Fuling will accelerate the transformation and upgrading of industries. It will implement the "Hundreds-Tens" project for industrial green and low-carbon development, actions for energy conservation and carbon reduction in key sectors, a doubling plan for strategic emerging industries, and an initiative to enhance enterprise innovation capabilities. By infusing traditional industries with "digital+, innovation+, and green+" elements, Fuling aims to renew its industrial base and strengthen new advantages in green manufacturing for this major industrial district. Second, it will amplify the nodal advantages of the Yangtze River Golden Waterway and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. Fuling will implement projects for the gasification and electrification of the Yangtze River and carry out large-scale renewal actions for transportation equipment. The focus will be on increasing the proportion of new energy in rail, road, and water transport and raising the share of green industries in the port-area economy, thereby enhancing the green vitality of the hub economy. Third, it will consolidate clean energy support through the intensive utilization of wind, solar, and hydropower and the green development of shale gas. By deepening the national pilot for coordinated innovation in pollution reduction and carbon reduction to advance the circular economy, Fuling will fortify the crucial ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

"Yunyang will coordinate and advance high-level protection with high-quality development, making greater contributions to the municipality's accelerated construction of a provincial-level pioneer zone for a Beautiful China," said Chen Daobin, Secretary of the Yunyang County Committee of the CPC.

First, it will deepen the advancement of major ecological protection and restoration projects such as the "Green Mountains on Both Banks, Thousand-Mile Forest Belt" and the "Three Gorges Reservoir Fluctuation Zone." Second, Yunyang will focus on building and strengthening industrial chains for characteristic sectors like clean energy. It aims to create near-zero-carbon industrial parks and factories, accelerate the development of new energy sources like wind power, and build a clean energy base in northeastern Chongqing. Third, it will actively promote innovations in environmental rights trading and financing, such as for carbon emission rights and forest rights. Yunyang will cultivate and expand the agricultural industry characterized by "one leading, two supporting, and multiple specialized" sectors, and speed up efforts to create new landmark cultural and tourism destinations in the Greater Three Gorges area.

Integrating and Amplifying Hub Functions to Foster Synergistic Development Momentum

"In recent years, Chongqing has accelerated the development of a comprehensive, three-dimensional transportation corridor along the Yangtze River, facilitating domestic and international connectivity and two-way cooperation between the eastern and western regions. The number of inter-provincial channels connecting the Yangtze River Economic Belt has reached 51. In collaboration with relevant municipal departments and districts/counties, Chongqing has promoted the integrated operation of the Yangtze River Golden Waterway, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, and the China-Europe Railway Express. The intermodal transport volume via these channels reached 173,000 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 20%. The three major markets of 'Europe-China-ASEAN' are now seamlessly connected in Chongqing, significantly enhancing the capacity and efficiency of the municipality as an international comprehensive transportation hub. This has provided strong impetus for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt," said He Qing, Director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Moving forward, Chongqing will emphasize cross-regional coordinated planning, integrated connectivity across different transport modes, and deep convergence across sectors. The municipality will strengthen integration, enhance safety, promote digital and intelligent upgrades, and drive green transformation. The aim is to accelerate the establishment of the "Qianli Qingzhou" (Light Boats over a Thousand Miles) multimodal transport collection and distribution system, providing robust support for building a comprehensive hub for inland opening-up.

Specifically, Chongqing will focus on three key areas:

First, building a systematically integrated comprehensive hub for inland opening-up. Chongqing will strengthen the construction of cross-regional and cross-basin major corridors, intensify efforts to complete the Chongqing sections of the national "6 Vertical, 7 Horizontal, 8 Channel" transportation backbone network, and support the development of the new Three Gorges Waterway Transport Channel. The municipality will enhance the capacity and efficiency of its international comprehensive transportation hub by implementing an action plan for high-quality port development and constructing high-standard hub-port industrial parks. An action plan for the high-quality development of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport will be implemented, preparatory work for the Chongqing Bishan Airport will be accelerated, and the establishment of a dual-hub airport system will be sped up.

Second, strengthening the fast and efficient "Qianli Qingzhou" multimodal transport system. Chongqing will create a distinctive inland waterway shipping benchmark brand with Chongqing characteristics, and complete and commission the "Qianli Qingzhou" AI agent. The municipality will address the "last mile" connectivity between port areas and industrial parks by accelerating the construction of dedicated railway lines and non-toll express logistics roads leading into ports and parks. The river-rail-sea multimodal transport network will be densified, with regular operations of river-sea direct and rail-sea intermodal routes.

Third, constructing a modern inland waterway shipping system that serves as a demonstration leader. Chongqing will drive digital and intelligent upgrades by building a digital port and shipping platform and continuously improving the construction of electronic fencing for port shorelines. The municipality will promote green transformation by establishing demonstration zones for "near-zero-carbon terminals" at locations such as Guoyuan and Xintian.

Source: Chongqing Daily