Xi vows to prioritise environment, protect nature and promote green lifestyles

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will prioritize environmental protection and promoting a green lifestyle, President Xi Jinping said on Monday, saying nature protection is an essential part of building a modern socialist state.

In his opening remarks at the biannual Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping said China has made progress in tackling environmental issues over the past decade, stating that while curbing soil pollution, it will also reduce serious air and air pollution. He vowed to “fundamentally eliminate” water pollution.

Addressing the delegation of more than 2,300 people, Xi said, “Ecosystem and environmental protection have undergone historic, transformative and comprehensive changes. It’s clear,” he said.

Repairing the damage done by decades of ferocious economic growth was one of China’s major policy goals during the decade of Xi Jinping’s administration. In 2018, he warned that failure to tackle pollution could be used as an “excuse” by hostile forces to undermine the Communist Party’s rule.

Low-carbon growth has also become a key part of China’s efforts to boost its international prominence and lead a new “global green industrial revolution.”

Xi last year pledged that China, the world’s largest source of greenhouse gases that warm the climate, would reach carbon neutrality by 2060, after peaking emissions by 2060.

He told the delegation that China’s carbon peak and neutral targets will be implemented steadily according to the country’s energy resources.

China will continue to promote “clean and efficient use of coal” while supporting low-carbon industries, pursuing an “energy revolution” and building a new energy system, Xi said.

Reported by David Steinway.Edited by William Mallard and Tom Hoag

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.