In 2022, guided by Xi Jinping thought on eco-civilization and by implementing the new development philosophy accurately and comprehensively, Jiangsu has waged a critical battle against pollution, and improved the quality of ecological environment to the best level since the beginning of the new century. The average concentration of PM2.5 in Jiangsu has dropped to 32 μg/m3, down by 3% year-on-year, reaching the second-class national air quality standard for two consecutive years on a provincial basis. The proportion of water sections under national monitoring at and above Grade III (excellent) standards in water quality reached 91 %, and the water quality of the Jiangsu section of the mainstream of the Yangtze River has been kept at Grade II for five consecutive years. The eco-environment of Taihu Lake has been maintained safe during summer for 15 consecutive years. The biodiversity background survey recorded 6,903 species, and a large number of ecologically sensitive species such as finless porpoise and spoon-billed sandpiper have returned to Jiangsu. A good ecological environment has become a public good that brought the highest level of happiness to Jiangsu people.
Collaborative carbon reduction efforts have taken solid steps. Jiangsu Province Pollution and Carbon Emission Reduction Collaborative Implementation Plan has been issued, and fiscal policies linked to the effectiveness of pollution and carbon emission reduction have been implemented. Jiangsu has been actively participating in the development of the national carbon trading market, and has completed the issuance of carbon emission quotas for enterprises in Jiangsu’s power industry. Efforts have been made to promote the overall integration of pollution emission and carbon emission environmental assessment management. We have implemented pollution emission limit management for 168 industrial parks above the provincial level, and issued the Decision on Optimizing the Management of Total Pollutant Discharge Indicators to Facilitate High-quality Development. Efforts have been made to support the development of major high-quality projects. The first batch of 106 leading enterprises in green development were selected, and five projects were shortlisted in the first batch of the national clean production innovative examination and approval pilot projects.
Efforts have been made to continuously advance pollution control. The Implementation Guidelines on Deepening the Fight Against Pollution has been issued, and nearly 17,000 projects on air and water pollution control have been completed. Ultra-low emission transformation of the whole process of thermal power industry and iron and steel industry in Jiangsu has been basically completed, and friendly-negotiated and in-depth emission reduction actions for enterprises in key industries such as cement and petrochemical industries have been carried out. The guidelines on further strengthening the control of total phosphorus pollution emission were compiled. 90%, 86% and 73.8% of sewage outlets in the Yangtze River, Taihu Lake and sea-going waterways have been cancelled or fixed respectively, and the first round of investigation of sewage outlets in the Huaihe River Basin has been completed. Strict supervision has been carried out on key organizations related to soil pollution, and risk control measures have been implemented for remnant land areas with high soil pollution risks. Nine prefecture-level cities have been selected into the national list of “waste-free cities”.
Good progress has been made in ecological and environmental conservation and restoration. The Detailed Rules for the Supervision, Management and Evaluation of Ecological Space Controlled Areas in Jiangsu Province has been issued, and the Implementation Guidelines on Further Strengthening Biodiversity Protection has been formulated. Biodiversity background surveys in 80% counties (cities, districts) in Jiangsu have been completed, and the first biodiversity red list, alien invasive species list and environmental quality indicator species list in Jiangsu have been released. The innovative development of an “ecological island” experimental area has been carried out, and 45 ecological security buffer zones have been established cumulatively. In addition, the ecological product value realization mechanism and ecological compensation system have been established and improved.
Governance capacity has reached a new level. The Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution in Jiangsu Province has been released, and 114 local standards for ecological environment protection have been formulated and issued cumulatively. The first provincial ecological environment infrastructure construction plan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period has been issued, and the implementation guidelines on improving the centralized sewage collection and treatment rate in Jiangsu have been released. A total of 154 green island projects featuring “intensive development and shared pollution control” have been launched, benefiting more than 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. Over 2,200 standard air and water quality automatic monitoring stations have been built, and 29,000 pollution sources have been supervised via automatic monitoring facilities. The first official ship featuring monitoring, law enforcement and emergency response functions in China has been put into use. An integrated ecological environment monitoring network covering sky, land and air has been established. The Decision on Accelerating Off-site Supervision of Ecological Environment has been issued, marking substantial steps in off-site supervision.
