What they say
Editor's Note: The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China invited representatives of CPC members in ecology and environment departments to meet journalists and answer questions about building a beautiful China on Wednesday.
It made me nervous to see that air pollutants kept fluctuating a few years ago. But I felt reassured with more clear days in recent years. There are many environment workers on the front line of emission reduction, monitoring and law enforcement. They work around the clock to help reduce pollutant concentrations microgram by microgram. Beijing’s air quality has improved significantly since 2013, when the average annual PM2.5 level was close to 90 micrograms per cubic meter. By 2020 the number had decreased to 38. The proportion of clear days rose from less than 50 percent to 75 percent over the period. The sense of achievement my colleagues and I felt while doing year-end reviews on our work in recent years was like seeing rainbows after a heavy storm.
Li Yunting, air quality monitor with the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center
My job means I have to be on standby at any time. That’s because pollution can come at any time, regardless of whether I am supposed to be on holiday. I need to return to my post immediately if air quality worsens. I am the father of two and they have barely enjoyed my company. They have been used to my sneaking in and sneaking out. My younger son, 5,
would say “Daddy won‘t come back today” when seeing smoggy weather. However, it is family support for dedicated environment workers that has made the improvements in air quality happen. I now feel proud when I come back home. After all, the clear sky and white clouds are the best gift for my family.
Zhang Haolong, heavy air pollution first responder with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
I started working at the ministry after obtaining my doctorate in 2002. People’s awareness of environmental protection was not as strong then. My colleagues and I often had to investigate undercover. We have been used to driving thousands of kilometers to tackle emergencies relating to the Yellow, Huaihe and Songhua river basins, and dealing with factories on heavily polluted days. We kept working in the aftermath of earthquakes and mudslides. Half of my two-decade career was spent on the road, and I have witnessed how ecological civilization morphed from a theory into practice.
Liu Xiangmei, environmental accident investigator with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Zhejiang has taken the lead in implementing the “river chief” program in China, and the cities of Jiaxing and Tongxiang are
front-runners within the province. Tongxiang (which is part of Jiaxing) has 2,350 river sections that are monitored. In 2012, we realized full coverage by river chiefs in all of Jiaxing’s towns and villages. Be it the mayor, town head or village chief, everyone is a river chief. Every one of them has a river to patrol and has a duty to help detect latent problems and solve them. This has become a routine for local officials.
Yao Weiping, head of the ecology and environment bureau in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province
When I first arrived in the 1990s, I was shocked by the damage caused by the rare earth mining boom in Sichuan. As far as I could see, there were mines everywhere, and safety accidents occurred from time to time. That prompted me to devote myself to the cause of environmental protection and join the local environment bureau to protect the green mountains and clear waters of my hometown. In recent years, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the joint efforts of authorities and enterprises have profoundly changed the situation. The green mountains and clear waters are smiling again.
Wu Hua, environmental law enforcement official in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province