The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently held the 2024 National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection in Beijing. The conference noted that over the past year, in the face of a severe and complex situation in ecological and environmental protection, the national ecological and environmental system rose to the challenges and acted proactively, coordinating the advancement of high-quality economic development and high-level ecological and environmental protection, and vigorously promoting the building of a Beautiful China. While fully supporting and serving the overall improvement of economic performance, it withstood multiple pressures including extremely unfavorable meteorological conditions, and achieved steady improvement in ecological and environmental quality.

　　The conference noted that building a Beautiful China is a long-term, arduous strategic task and systemic project. We must clearly understand the current situation facing ecological and environmental protection, and advance in stages and in a planned way toward the goal of building a Beautiful China. At the current stage, we should focus on the objectives and tasks for the 14th Five-Year Plan period and through 2027, expand and consolidate the achievements of the battle against pollution, and continue to steadily improve ecological and environmental quality, so as to get off to a good start, make a solid beginning, and lay a solid foundation for comprehensively advancing the building of a Beautiful China.

　　At the same time, we should take the development of Beautiful China pioneer zones as the focal point and advance in tiers to create demonstration models for building a Beautiful China; take promoting high-quality development as the theme and advance high-quality development and high-level protection in tandem; take promoting the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction as the main line and fight the landmark battles in the battle against pollution; take strengthening the synergy of objectives, multi-pollutant control, departments, regions, and policies as the guide to improve the level of ecological and environmental governance; take strengthening unified supervision of ecological protection and restoration as the breakthrough point to enhance the diversity, stability, and sustainability of ecosystems; and take adhering to the principle of combining incentives and constraints as the basis to enhance the internal driving force of all parties to protect the ecological environment.

　　The conference emphasized that 2024 is the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China, a key year for achieving the objectives and tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan, and an important year for comprehensively advancing the building of a Beautiful China. To do a good job in ecological and environmental protection, we must thoroughly implement the spirit of the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old, highlight precise pollution control, scientific pollution control, and pollution control in accordance with the law, take the building of a Beautiful China as the overarching guide, coordinate the advancement of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, continue to overcome difficulties and deepen reform and innovation, promote sustained and steady improvement in ecological and environmental quality, support high-quality development with high-level protection, and strive with vigor to build a Beautiful China in which humanity and nature coexist in harmony.

　　Regarding the key tasks for 2024, the conference determined that we should actively advance the development of Beautiful China pioneer zones. We should persevere in fighting the battle against pollution. We should fight the battles for blue skies, clear waters, and clean land to higher standards, and strengthen the treatment of solid waste and new pollutants. We should actively promote green, low-carbon, and high-quality development. We should fully support and serve the continued improvement of economic performance, and deeply advance collaborative innovation in pollution reduction and carbon reduction in cities and industrial parks. We should intensify supervision of ecological protection and restoration. We should strengthen ecological and environmental inspection, law enforcement, and risk prevention. We should vigorously advance scientific and technological innovation in the field of ecology and environment. We should accelerate the improvement of the modern environmental governance system.