Green focus hoped to foster sustainability

Zhuhai of Guangdong province is managing to balance its fast-paced economic growth with sustainable development, according to the local government.

Official figures show that in the first half of 2019, the comprehensive air quality index of Zhuhai improved by 8.3 percent year-on-year. It ranked seventh among 168 key cities in the country, one place higher than the same period in 2018. All of the city's nine centralized drinking water sources were qualified up to standard.

"All of these (results) come from Zhuhai's adherence to the concept of 'clear waters and lush mountains are as valuable as gold and silver', which started at the establishment of the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone and goes through Zhuhai's development over the past four decades," said Zhang Jingwei, director of the Zhuhai ecology and environment bureau.

Zhuhai has long been at the nation's forefront for the promotion of creating a better ecological environment. It has gained many honors from inside and outside China for its remarkable achievements in this area.

Zhuhai was named one of the first National Garden Cities in 1992 and won the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to improve the Living Environment by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 1998, the first Chinese city to win this honor.

It was also listed among Demonstration Cities and Counties of China Ecological Civilization Construction by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2017.

An ecological civilization is one based upon ecological principles across all areas of society working toward sustainability.

Zhuhai has made a series of achievements in constructing ecological civilization. These include publishing the ecological environment index, assessing ecological civilization and promoting the GEP (gross ecosystem product) and green development model, which is listed as one of the key tasks in the city's reform.

Zhuhai is a model city for the construction of an ecological civilization in China, said Gao Shiji. He is director of the Institute for Resources and Environment Policies of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Since the establishment of the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, the city has paid attention to environmental protection and improvements, and made long-term efforts to realize the equal importance of economic development and environmental preservation, Gao said.