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Not far from the administrative center of Guiyang， capital of southwest China’s Guizhou Province， sits a vast complex， the Guiyang International Eco-Conference Center. Forty percent of its main building is covered by greenery， while the roof supports more than 100 solar panels， which not only power the building but also provide all of its hot water. The building is the venue for the EcoForum Global Annual Conference. The topics on the agenda of the three-day event range from forest cities to poverty alleviation， green finance innovation， ocean conservation， bio-diversity in economic development， mitigating climate change， environment and health， and wilderness restoration.
The first annual conference of the forum took place in 2009 under the name Eco-Forum Guiyang， but was upgraded in 2013 to Eco-Forum Global as a national and international event held by the Chinese Government.
In a congratulatory letter to this year’s conference， President Xi Jinping stressed the high importance China has attached to the protection of the ecological environment and the country’s willingness to continue efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with the international community to build a clean and beautiful world together.
Like many other countries， in the process of economic development China has been plagued by ecological issues such as environmental degradation， pollution and the exhaustion of resources. In addition to providing a platform for countries to exchange their ideas and practices on eco-civilization， the forum is also a window through which the outside world can learn more about China’s efforts and experience in this regard.
Forest city
Guizhou is a mountainous region and one of China’s poorest provinces. While eager for economic takeoff to lift more of its people out of poverty， it is also under huge pressure to protect its natural environment and prevent the desertification of its rocky karst landscape. Preserving natural resources and an unspoiled environment while simultaneously transforming these resources into profit for local people is the main challenge facing Guizhou.
Guiyang was bestowed the status of a“national forest city” in 2004 by the State Forestry Administration and boasted an urban forest coverage of 48.66 percent in 2017， with two forest belts around the city and 942 parks. Zhao Deming， Secretary of the Communist Party of China Guiyang Municipal Committee， said at the forum that the city plans to plant more trees while protecting existing forests， as well as increase its overall forest coverage to 60 percent with a per-capita public green area of 12.88 square meters. The International Eco-Conference Center is not the only green building of its kind in Guiyang. Surrounding it are a number of hotels and other skyscrapers constructed in the same style. According to the Guiyang Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Bureau， this low-carbon technology is to be applied widely in residential buildings as well. The city is not only surrounded by trees but blended with forests and wooded hills. The famous Qianling Park is perhaps Guiyang’s best example. The park is situated in the heart of the city allowing easy access for most of its residents. At 1，200 meters， the hills are well-known for the hundreds of macaques who live there. Local residents often go to feed the monkeys， and familiar with the presence of humans， the macaques accept and even request food from visitors. From the early 1980s to now， the number of macaques in the park has risen from 30 to more than 500， and the harmonious scene of monkeys playing with humans is now a common sight.
Yet this is but a small part of the city’s environmental journey. In the 1990s， far from being considered a forest city， Guiyang was notorious for its acid rain， the levels of sulfur dioxide in the air exceeding the national limit due to high-polluting industries such as coal and phosphate mining， cement and steel production， and thermal power plants. Ironically， the level of the city’s economic development at the time was among the lowest of China’s provincial capitals. The ecological fragility of Guiyang’s karst landform means that once the surrounding landscape has been damaged， it is extremely difficult to restore to its original state. Geographic remoteness hindered economic growth， and while the region boasts many natural resources the delicate nature of its ecology makes them difficult to access. The provincial government decided to place equal emphasis on growth and the environment to avoid the negative effects of industrialization. So far， all coal-fired boilers in Guiyang have been installed with desulphurization， de-nitration and de-dusting equipment， while highpolluting operations， like cement factories， power plants and steelworks， have been moved out of the city.
In 2004， Guiyang released China’s first local ordinance on the circular economy and in 2013 China’s first local eco-civili-zation regulation took effect in the city， providing an environmentally focused legal basis for activities such as crop burning， emissions， river management and urban construction. China’s first environmental protection court was established in Guiyang in 2017. According to Han Deyang， President of the Guizhou Provincial Higher People’s Court， the court accepted 1，020 criminal cases related to natural resources and the environment from June 2017 to May 2018. At the Eco-Forum Global， Han emphasized parity between the judicial protection for the ecological environment and natural resources in the province and the protection of citizens’ personal and property rights. Today， children in Guiyang’s kindergartens are taught how to contribute to environmental protection. Zhang Jianhui， a teacher at the Guiyang Preschool Education College， is the first professional educator on environmental protection in Guizhou. Since 2000， she has been engaged in training preschool teachers in green education and organizing activities at kindergartens for children and their parents. Her efforts have helped environmental concepts to spread from the kindergartens to families， communities and wider society.
Zou Lianke， Director of Guizhou’s Department of Education， said at the forum that ecological advancement is inseparable from education. Environmental education from kindergarten through primary school， middle school and university is crucial to raising the awareness of future generations to the importance of ecological protection. Students in the province are widely encouraged to participate in ecological and environmental protection classes and activities.
The achievements of Guiyang’s efforts to protect the environment are significant. From 2013 to 2015， the city’s air quality excellence rate jumped from 76.2 percent to 93.2 percent， ranking fifth among China’s provincial capitals， while its forest coverage rose from 39.8 percent in 2007 to 45.5 percent in 2015. In 2017， the city’s air quality excellence rate hit 95.1 percent， ranking ninth among all the country’s 74 major cities.
Necessary elements
As an inland province， Guizhou’s economic growth lags behind the country’s coastal regions. By the end of 2017， of the province’s 35 million inhabitants， 2.8 million were yet to escape poverty across 65 counties， 14 of which were considered to be extremely impoverished. The province is also home to the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers， and so any change to the ecology of Guizhou could have a major impact on the areas along these two waterways， which are important arteries of China’s agriculture and industry.
For some time， Guizhou pursued rapid economic growth through extensive devel-opment， only to find its economy hindered further by a degraded environment. This heavy toll awakened provincial leaders to the necessity of green development， which balances economic growth with resource preservation and environmental protection.
Guizhou is home to vast underground caves， sheer limestone peaks， rocky gorges and cascading waterfalls—the most famous of which is China’s largest， Huangguoshu. Meanwhile， almost 36 percent of the province’s population is made up by ethnic minority groups， whose ancient traditions， customs， architecture and cuisine hold unique appeal to visitors.
The first annual conference of the forum took place in 2009 under the name Eco-Forum Guiyang， but was upgraded in 2013 to Eco-Forum Global as a national and international event held by the Chinese Government.
In a congratulatory letter to this year’s conference， President Xi Jinping stressed the high importance China has attached to the protection of the ecological environment and the country’s willingness to continue efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with the international community to build a clean and beautiful world together.
Like many other countries， in the process of economic development China has been plagued by ecological issues such as environmental degradation， pollution and the exhaustion of resources. In addition to providing a platform for countries to exchange their ideas and practices on eco-civilization， the forum is also a window through which the outside world can learn more about China’s efforts and experience in this regard.
Forest city
Guizhou is a mountainous region and one of China’s poorest provinces. While eager for economic takeoff to lift more of its people out of poverty， it is also under huge pressure to protect its natural environment and prevent the desertification of its rocky karst landscape. Preserving natural resources and an unspoiled environment while simultaneously transforming these resources into profit for local people is the main challenge facing Guizhou.
Guiyang was bestowed the status of a“national forest city” in 2004 by the State Forestry Administration and boasted an urban forest coverage of 48.66 percent in 2017， with two forest belts around the city and 942 parks. Zhao Deming， Secretary of the Communist Party of China Guiyang Municipal Committee， said at the forum that the city plans to plant more trees while protecting existing forests， as well as increase its overall forest coverage to 60 percent with a per-capita public green area of 12.88 square meters. The International Eco-Conference Center is not the only green building of its kind in Guiyang. Surrounding it are a number of hotels and other skyscrapers constructed in the same style. According to the Guiyang Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Bureau， this low-carbon technology is to be applied widely in residential buildings as well. The city is not only surrounded by trees but blended with forests and wooded hills. The famous Qianling Park is perhaps Guiyang’s best example. The park is situated in the heart of the city allowing easy access for most of its residents. At 1，200 meters， the hills are well-known for the hundreds of macaques who live there. Local residents often go to feed the monkeys， and familiar with the presence of humans， the macaques accept and even request food from visitors. From the early 1980s to now， the number of macaques in the park has risen from 30 to more than 500， and the harmonious scene of monkeys playing with humans is now a common sight.
Yet this is but a small part of the city’s environmental journey. In the 1990s， far from being considered a forest city， Guiyang was notorious for its acid rain， the levels of sulfur dioxide in the air exceeding the national limit due to high-polluting industries such as coal and phosphate mining， cement and steel production， and thermal power plants. Ironically， the level of the city’s economic development at the time was among the lowest of China’s provincial capitals. The ecological fragility of Guiyang’s karst landform means that once the surrounding landscape has been damaged， it is extremely difficult to restore to its original state. Geographic remoteness hindered economic growth， and while the region boasts many natural resources the delicate nature of its ecology makes them difficult to access. The provincial government decided to place equal emphasis on growth and the environment to avoid the negative effects of industrialization. So far， all coal-fired boilers in Guiyang have been installed with desulphurization， de-nitration and de-dusting equipment， while highpolluting operations， like cement factories， power plants and steelworks， have been moved out of the city.
In 2004， Guiyang released China’s first local ordinance on the circular economy and in 2013 China’s first local eco-civili-zation regulation took effect in the city， providing an environmentally focused legal basis for activities such as crop burning， emissions， river management and urban construction. China’s first environmental protection court was established in Guiyang in 2017. According to Han Deyang， President of the Guizhou Provincial Higher People’s Court， the court accepted 1，020 criminal cases related to natural resources and the environment from June 2017 to May 2018. At the Eco-Forum Global， Han emphasized parity between the judicial protection for the ecological environment and natural resources in the province and the protection of citizens’ personal and property rights. Today， children in Guiyang’s kindergartens are taught how to contribute to environmental protection. Zhang Jianhui， a teacher at the Guiyang Preschool Education College， is the first professional educator on environmental protection in Guizhou. Since 2000， she has been engaged in training preschool teachers in green education and organizing activities at kindergartens for children and their parents. Her efforts have helped environmental concepts to spread from the kindergartens to families， communities and wider society.
Zou Lianke， Director of Guizhou’s Department of Education， said at the forum that ecological advancement is inseparable from education. Environmental education from kindergarten through primary school， middle school and university is crucial to raising the awareness of future generations to the importance of ecological protection. Students in the province are widely encouraged to participate in ecological and environmental protection classes and activities.
The achievements of Guiyang’s efforts to protect the environment are significant. From 2013 to 2015， the city’s air quality excellence rate jumped from 76.2 percent to 93.2 percent， ranking fifth among China’s provincial capitals， while its forest coverage rose from 39.8 percent in 2007 to 45.5 percent in 2015. In 2017， the city’s air quality excellence rate hit 95.1 percent， ranking ninth among all the country’s 74 major cities.
Necessary elements
As an inland province， Guizhou’s economic growth lags behind the country’s coastal regions. By the end of 2017， of the province’s 35 million inhabitants， 2.8 million were yet to escape poverty across 65 counties， 14 of which were considered to be extremely impoverished. The province is also home to the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers， and so any change to the ecology of Guizhou could have a major impact on the areas along these two waterways， which are important arteries of China’s agriculture and industry.
For some time， Guizhou pursued rapid economic growth through extensive devel-opment， only to find its economy hindered further by a degraded environment. This heavy toll awakened provincial leaders to the necessity of green development， which balances economic growth with resource preservation and environmental protection.
Guizhou is home to vast underground caves， sheer limestone peaks， rocky gorges and cascading waterfalls—the most famous of which is China’s largest， Huangguoshu. Meanwhile， almost 36 percent of the province’s population is made up by ethnic minority groups， whose ancient traditions， customs， architecture and cuisine hold unique appeal to visitors.