(Yicai Global) Oct. 21 -- There has been good progress in protecting and improving the state of China’s ecology and environment in the last decade, the Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment said at the press conference of the ongoing National Congress of the Communist Party of China today. Two rounds of nationwide inspections have been carried out with good results and the third round will begin soon.

Ecological environmental protection inspectors have completed two rounds of inspections in 32 regions and of some government sectors and enterprises, with good political, economic, social and environmental results, Zhai Qing said. Soon, the third round of inspections will begin and the country will make more efforts to solve its most severe ecological and environmental problems, he added.

China is the country with the fastest rate of air quality improvement in the world, Zhai said. The annual average value of fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, in Chinese cities dropped to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021 from 46 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015.

China’s annual energy consumption growth rate of 3 percent has supported an average economic growth of 6.6 percent, Zhai said. The proportion of good quality surface water has reached 84.9 percent, close to the level in developed countries. In addition, soil pollution is basically under control.

Nature reserves account for 18 percent of the country’s land. China has five major national parks, including the Three-Rivers-Source National Park and the Giant Panda National Park.

The wild populations of more than 300 rare and endangered species of animals and plants, such as Yunnan elephants, Tibetan antelopes and the Yangtze finless propoises, have recovered and multiplied thanks to the systematic management of the environment and the implementation of major projects for biodiversity conservation, he said.

The country continues to make great strides towards achieving its green transformation. China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product shrank 34.4 percent in 2021 from 2012, and the proportion of coal in primary energy consumption sank to 56 percent from 68.5 percent. It has the highest scale of renewable energy development and utilization in the world and also ranks top in terms of the production and sales of new energy vehicles.

In order to address climate change, China will continue to work towards meeting its carbon peaking and neutrality targets, promote green and low-carbon transformation in key areas, effect synergies in pollution reduction and carbon emission cuts and set up the national carbon emissions trading market in an orderly manner, Zhai said.

Editors：Shi Yi, Kim Taylor