Group interview held on fighting for a better environment

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held its eighth group interview in Beijing Monday, with the theme of "securing victory in the hard battle for a better environment". Delegates from the environmental sector of five provinces took reporters' questions.

Scientific and iron-fist methods to tackle environment problems

During the last five years, one of the ecological provinces, Fujian, has taken several measures to improve environmental protection, said Zhu Hua, director general of the Fujian Provincial Environmental Protection Department.

For example, the province has been optimizing the industry structure, and focused on more technologies that can help environmental protection. Fujian has also reduced pollution by measures such as strengthening law enforcement and setting strict standards for enterprises.

In addition, a series of reforms have also been carried out. Forest preservation has seen a notable result, which was achieved by bringing benefits to forest farmers so that they won't make money by logging trees. Animal protection has also contributed to Fujian's environmental protection. 

There is a saying that the world looks to China for steel, and China looks to Hebei province. As a strength of the northern province of China, the steel industry has brought Hebei both economic prosperity and air pollution. To settle that problem, Hebei has taken a lot of measures, said Gao Jianmin, director general of the Hebei Provincial Environmental Protection Department.

The province had been strengthening its inspection on environment since 2012.

To improve the air quality, the province has implemented scientific approach, collaboration with the entire society and "iron-fist" policy.

With the scientific approach, Hebei has successfully reduced overflow production of steel and iron by 67 million tons, coal by 54 million tons and glass by 54 million tons. Over 100,000 factories have been renovated, moved or shut down. The province even reduced five million tons of scattered coal.

The provincial government's cooperation with the community, the party and some businesses helps bring awareness to the society and clarified responsibilities on each end.

With the "iron fist" policy, the province strengthened air pollution inspection on businesses and factories.

Although half of the cities that ranked in the of bottom 10 in PM2.5 air pollution were from Hebei province at the end of 2016, the province managed to reduce the density of PM2.5 by 35.2 percent compared with the same time in 2013. In 2017 alone, the number has dropped by 38.8 percent, and PM10 has dropped by 35.9 percent.

Education important in environment protection

"Environment protection starts from education," said Zhang Lihua, president of Liaoning Provincial Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, encouraging every civilian to participate in the national endeavor of environmental protection.

The province has also held various activities to spread the concept of environmental protection into every corner, said Zhang, such as the lectures on green environment, the construction of green schools, enterprises, families as well the establishment of NGOs.

Fake data worse than no data

Fake data is even worse than no data as it will affect the decision-making on environmental protection, said Hu Guanjiu, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center when addressing a reporter's question concerning how to ensure the accuracy of monitoring data in daily work. 

Hu, as a front-line veteran dedicated to ambient pollutants monitoring, analysis and quality management, elaborated the question from three aspects.

First, the monitoring staff is critical in ensuring the correct results. Passing a qualification test is a requirement for staff and they have all received training. Other than recognition from national authorities, staff have been told that they are accountable for every figure they monitor, which means they are responsible for the results.

Secondly, monitoring organizations are also important. The monitor market is in an open status, which allows third party agencies to be involved in the monitoring procedure. These agencies are all requested to follow certain rules and standards to ensure their monitoring results are accurate.

Finally, the environmental protection administration also plays an important role in ensuring the accuracy of the monitoring figures, Hu added. 

Huang Bin, director of Analysis Division of the Environmental Monitoring Center of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Environmental Bureau of Hunan province, underscored that it's the professional ethics and bottom line for the environmental monitoring staff to guarantee authentic and effective monitoring data. He called on all his peers to hold their "bottom line" and make contributions to a sound ecological environment for China.