The Future Is Green

A FACELIFT: (above) Coke ovens smolder on a hill in Linfen City, north China's Shanxi Province on September 6, 2005. (below) Linfen enjoys a clear day on May 31, 2011, after the local government closed down more than 700 energyintensive and highly polluting factories between 2006 and 2007

Consonant voices

Erhai Lake is the most famous tourist attraction in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, with its picturesque beauty. It has long been regarded by local people as Mother Lake since fish from the lake is an important food source. However, it was severely polluted in the late 1990s when new factories sprang up. Sample tests showed water in the lake was suitable only for irrigation, not for human contact. A massive blue-green algal bloom in 2003 was a wake-up call for local government officials, who then decided to revolutionize Dali's development model. The same year they launched an environmental publicity campaign to protect the lake.

Yin Jianye, Party chief of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, told China Youth Daily that over the past 10 years or so, the local government has closed down a large number of polluting factories around Erhai and spent billions of yuan improving its water quality.

Now a beautiful natural environment has become Dali's competitive edge.

Yin said the water quality in Erhai has recovered so much that it is currently suitable as drinking water and a habitat for endangered animals. The environmental recovery has also boosted local tourism. Last year, Dali received a record 15.6 million tourists. The number is expected to surpass 18 million this year.

Yin said after several ups and downs, local officials have realized that emphasizing ecological progress can expand an area's development space.

Wang Jiangping, Director of Guizhou Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology, was repeatedly asked during the 18th CPC National Congress whether Guizhou, a less developed landlocked province, would accept investment proposals from energy-intensive and highly polluting factories relocated from China's eastern areas.

Wang said that Guizhou used to welcome such proposals, but times have changed. According to Wang, the province has closed down many cement, metal alloys, paper and leather factories with obsolete production facilities since the beginning of this year, which incurred a total loss of 60,000 jobs and 8 billion yuan (US$1.28 billion) in its GDP.

"Although the local economy may suffer in short term, longterm sustainable development with a better industrial structure is more likely," Wang said, adding that a recycling economy is replacing a resources-based economy in Guizhou.

When Li Jun, Party chief of Guiyang, the provincial capital, spoke at a panel discussion on Hu's report during the 18th CPC National Congress, he shared his surprise at how many times "ecological progress" appeared in the report.