Abstract:

　　The average annual concentration of PM2.5 in the province was 27 micrograms per cubic meter, the lowest since the implementation of the new air quality standard in 2013; for the first time, all 21 prefecture-level cities met the PM2.5 standard.

　　The province's GDP exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the first time, ranking first in the country for 31 consecutive years. One high and one low, this is the strongest voice of Guangdong's green development in the new era!

　　The number of national key surface water monitoring sections with excellent water quality increased by 3 year-on-year, and the number of sections with Class V water quality decreased by 4 year-on-year. One rise and one fall, this is a summary and result of Guangdong's efforts in pollution control and governance in the past year!

　　2019 was destined to be an extraordinary year for China's economic and social development, and also a crucial year for pollution control and governance. Guangdong has deeply implemented Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization and the important speeches and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on Guangdong, promoting new achievements in the province's ecological environmental protection and ecological civilization construction.

　　Scientific planning, strengthened services, and promoting high-quality economic development

　　An economic aggregate of nearly 10 trillion yuan puts an undeniable pressure on the environment itself. In the face of downward economic pressure, how to effectively promote coordinated economic and environmental development is a test of development concepts, capabilities, and levels.

　　Guangdong must deeply grasp ecological civilization to promote high-quality development! General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech during his inspection of Guangdong in October 2018 pointed out the direction for Guangdong. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council also sent a "big gift" to Guangdong's high-quality development—the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and support for Shenzhen's construction as a pilot demonstration area for socialism with Chinese characteristics.

　　It is both an opportunity and a heavy responsibility, a challenge and a mission! Guangdong has seized the opportunity of the "dual-zone driving effect" of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Shenzhen pilot demonstration area, and combined with its actual situation to determine the new regional development strategy of promoting Guangzhou's revitalization of old cities and constructing the "one core, one belt, one area" regional development strategy, pushing Guangdong to a new level at a new starting point.

　　Guided by the new development concept, scientific planning, optimization of layout, and playing the "leading role" in ecological environmental protection have become pragmatic measures for Guangdong to promote high-quality economic development with high-level ecological environmental protection in the new era. Benchmarking against the highest, best, and best international and domestic standards, "green development and ecological protection" has become one of the five basic principles of cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and "pioneer of sustainable development" has also become one of the five strategic positions of the Shenzhen pilot demonstration area. According to the new regional development pattern of "one core, one belt, one area," Shaoguan, Meizhou, Qingyuan, Heyuan, and Yunfu were identified as the northern ecological development zone, with the primary task of protecting and restoring the ecological environment and providing ecological products.

　　▲Shaoguan's beautiful ecological environment

　　The strong become stronger, the excellent become better, each with its own characteristics and complementing each other, forming a regional pattern of high-quality development. This not only injects strong impetus into Guangdong's high-quality development but also provides a solid guarantee for Guangdong's sustainable development!

　　In the past year, Guangdong's ecological environmental protection work has vigorously promoted the implementation of major regional development strategies. The "three lines and one list" compilation work was organized, and the construction of the ecological environmental zoning and control system was strengthened to ensure the smooth implementation and construction of major provincial and municipal projects and emerging industrial projects. The compilation and implementation of the ecological environmental protection plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was promoted, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao pilot demonstration area for air pollution control, the "zero waste" pilot area, the blue bay, and the low-carbon development demonstration area was promoted. A special work mechanism was established, and according to the principle of "delegating as much as possible," provincial-level ecological environmental management powers were delegated to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, promoting the construction of Shenzhen's national "zero waste city" pilot project and Guangzhou's national low-carbon city pilot project, and promoting the creation of a national ecological civilization construction demonstration area by the Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration.

　　"Each enterprise is both an entity of economic development and the main body of pollution control. I hope everyone will speak freely and jointly promote the province's green development and achieve a "win-win" situation for economic development and environmental protection! "

　　On the morning of November 11, a face-to-face symposium on Guangdong's ecological environmental service enterprises was held. The short and warm opening remarks immediately brought the government officials and enterprise representatives closer together. In the more than 3-hour agenda, the heads of the attending government departments had sincere and effective interactions with more than 60 heads of foreign-funded and private enterprises and some industry associations.

　　"In the face of current pressure on economic growth, how to help enterprises solve specific problems and promote high-quality development, the activity organized by the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment today is very meaningful!" commented a responsible person from the Provincial Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

　　To improve services for enterprises, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment has also held five "sending regulations, technology, and services to enterprises" publicity activities, held a Guangdong Provincial Pollution Prevention and Control Battle Governance Technology, Equipment, and Service Exhibition and Exchange and Matching Conference, and jointly signed the "Cooperation Agreement on Jointly Promoting the Green Development of Private Enterprises and Winning the Battle of Pollution Prevention and Control" with the Provincial Federation of Industry and Commerce.

　　▲From June 10 to 16, the Guangdong Provincial Pollution Prevention and Control Battle Governance Technology, Equipment, and Service Exhibition and Exchange and Matching Conference was held in Dongguan City.

　　To further deepen the reform of "delegating power, improving regulation, and enhancing services" and optimize the business environment, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment introduced eight "hard measures" to deepen the supervision and service of enterprises' ecological environment, requiring the provincial ecological environment system to increase the intensity of environmental impact assessment reform, achieving a greater "release"; standardizing environmental law enforcement behavior, achieving more accurate "management"; and improving the level of environmental government services, achieving more effective "services".

　　This year, the time limit for handling environmental impact assessment approvals by the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment has been reduced from 60 days to 15 working days, and 53 administrative approval items have been reduced, with a reduction rate of 64%.

　　Foshan City integrated internally and linked externally, enabling construction units to "run only once"; implementing the informed consent system, enterprises outside the negative list of environmental impact assessment approvals and those that meet the conclusions of regional (planning) environmental impact assessments can implement the informed consent system, and the approval time limit is shortened to 9 working days (including 7 days of public announcement). If there are no objections or objections are not established after the public announcement period, the approval decision is made directly.

　　Dongguan changed the environmental impact registration form items from an approval system to an online filing system. From January to November, 207,384 business licenses were applied for in various towns and streets, and 58,109 required environmental impact assessment procedures after preliminary identification. 56,098 enterprises have been informed, and 35,804 enterprises have been verified to require environmental impact assessment procedures. 34,597 environmental impact assessments have been completed, including 26,886 registration forms.

　　Reducing pre-approval means strengthening post-supervision, especially severely cracking down on subjective and malicious illegal and stealthy discharge behaviors. In 2019, a total of 16,600 environmental violations were punished in Guangdong Province, with fines and confiscations totaling 1.48 billion yuan, 484 cases were transferred for administrative detention, and 388 cases were transferred for suspected environmental crimes, with the work intensity ranking among the top in the country.

　　Among them, Dongguan's fines and confiscations of illegal gains exceeded 377 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 38.8%, ranking first in the province. The city had 4,282 environmental administrative punishment cases, with seizures and confiscations, administrative detentions, and transfers of environmental crime cases increasing by 61.9%, 550%, and 89.5% respectively. The intensity of environmental law enforcement can be seen from this. At the end of the year, the city implemented a new policy of rewarding informants with up to 500,000 yuan in Shima River, which has attracted much attention.

　　"What we are dealing with are enterprises that violate environmental regulations. This is protection for the vast majority of law-abiding environmental enterprises, and it is also necessary to create a fair, orderly, and law-based market environment." pointed out a relevant person in charge of the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment.

　　Strict law enforcement has yielded positive results. Statistics show that in 2019, the city's ecological environment system handled a total of 28,000 environmental complaints, a year-on-year decrease of 6.6%, achieving a reduction for the first time in many years, and initially demonstrating the effectiveness of environmental supervision and law enforcement. The problem rate of enterprises in special operations decreased from 79.2% to 49%, a significant drop, strengthening enterprises' awareness of self-conscious law-abiding and gradually forming a consensus on strengthening environmental protection self-discipline.

　　▲Joint special operation by the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment and the Provincial Public Security Department to combat the illegal transfer of waste engine oil

　　Rising to the challenge, focusing efforts, and winning the battle against pollution

　　On December 4, the water quality of all 18 key sections of surface water in Guangdong Province turned blue!

　　Even a fleeting moment is enough to excite and lament people both inside and outside the WeChat work circle! "This day has been so hard! We've waited a whole year!" "Unexpectedly, there really is such a day, it really can all turn blue!" "More blue next year!"...

　　▲Daily report on water quality of 18 key surface water sections in Guangdong Province on December 4, 2019

　　Monitoring data shows that in December alone, 8 of the 9 Class V inferior water sections in Guangdong Province have eliminated Class V inferior water quality. The comprehensive pollution index of the Maozhou River, Lianjiang River, Danshui River, and Shima River national monitoring sections decreased by 35.2%, 34.7%, 45.1%, and 30.9% year-on-year, laying a good foundation for achieving the standards for the whole year of 2020.

　　More than a year ago, during his inspection of Guangdong, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Guangdong still had 9 Class V inferior national monitoring sections and that the ecological debt must be repaid.

　　The earnest instructions and high expectations are kept in mind and transformed into an invincible force. The Party Secretary and Governor of the province jointly issued the "No. 1 Order" of the Command Headquarters for the Battle against Pollution, taking the lead in shouldering the heaviest burden and tackling the toughest problems, focusing on achieving standards for Class V inferior national monitoring sections, and making every effort to win the battle against water pollution.

　　"When I moved here seven years ago, the Maozhou River was a stinky ditch." Wang, an aunt living in the Zhonghe community on the banks of the Maozhou River in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, recalled. But now the water is clean, and parks and paths have been built on both banks. "It's very beautiful; I walk by the river every day."

　　The "transformation" of the Maozhou River is a microcosm of the historical turning point achieved in Shenzhen's water treatment in 2019. The water quality of the city's two national monitoring sections achieved a historical breakthrough—the ammonia nitrogen in the Gonghecun national monitoring section of the Maozhou River dropped from 23.3 mg/L in 2015 to 3.9 mg/L in 2019, and even dropped below 2 mg/L in November and December, reaching the best level since 1992; the annual average of the Shenzhen River reached the Class V surface water standard, the best level since 1982. All 159 black and odorous water bodies and 1467 small and micro black and odorous water bodies in the city have been eliminated.

　　▲2019 Shenzhen Bao'an Maozhou River Dragon Boat Race

　　Since launching a comprehensive war against water pollution in 2016, Shenzhen has invested nearly 120 billion yuan, using four years of efforts to make up for nearly 40 years of historical debt. In the past four years, Shenzhen has built 6274 kilometers of sewage pipe networks and completed the separation of rainwater and sewage systems in 13793 communities and urban villages.

　　In the battle against water pollution, Shenzhen insisted on personal leadership from Party and government leaders, forming a mechanism for joint efforts and management from top to bottom. In 2019, the "decisive year for water pollution control," water treatment became the work that the city's main leaders "spent the most time on, conducted the most grassroots investigations, held the most meetings to discuss, and repeatedly emphasized the most." The secretaries and district heads of each district also went to the front lines, familiar with the water treatment work, becoming "water treatment experts." At the same time, adhering to the principle of joint construction, joint governance, and shared benefits, a good atmosphere of open water treatment and public water protection has been formed. More than 50 leading domestic institutions have been brought together to form the Shenzhen Water Quality Improvement Technology Alliance, and a volunteer river chief team of 702 volunteers and a volunteer river protection team of 120,000 "river assistants" have been established to jointly protect and improve the water environment.

　　"It's really changed, it's almost unrecognizable." On the afternoon of December 3 last year, at the entrance of the Ximei Village Committee on the Guarao Creek, a tributary of the Lianjiang River, reporters who had previously inspected with the inspection team and now "returned to the scene" were amazed by the changes in the river. The former clusters of illegal buildings have disappeared, and the newly repaired embankments are planted with flowers. The water is clean, and the various garbage that used to be densely packed on the water and both banks is hard to find.

　　"From 'all talk and no action' to 'real action'" "Lianjiang water quality has changed dramatically in one year!" "How did a river that was once 'abandoned' become a model example of central environmental protection inspection?"... Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and China Central Television and other central media have reported on Shantou's experience in the governance of the Lianjiang River. For more than a year, 14 Party and government leaders in Shantou have been responsible for the governance of 15 main tributaries of the Lianjiang River basin, with at least one on-site office meeting per month. 840.13 kilometers of new sewage pipe networks have been built in the basin, exceeding the total construction in previous years.

　　"The river water doesn't stink anymore, and the rent for our houses by the river has risen from over 200 yuan to 500 yuan." Mr. Liu, who lives by the Tangjing Shayong in Baiyun District, Guangzhou, said happily.

　　Walking along the Tangjing Shayong, the shallow river water is no longer black and odorous, and clusters of aquatic plants are thriving. Who would have thought that a few months ago, this river was still covered with cement slabs, with sewage flowing underneath, a hidden place of filth and dirt.

　　"If it's covered, it's out of sight, out of mind, so we don't need to treat it," "Uncovering it will affect people's parking"... Faced with many hesitant and skeptical thoughts, Guangzhou rose to the challenge and resolutely decided to implement the uncovering and restoration of the river, "We must not allow a single inch of black and odorous water body to hide in the dark."

　　In September, the Shayong uncovering project officially started. Fifteen days later, the uncovering of the Tangjing Shayong was successfully completed, with a total of about 10,755 square meters of slabs removed. After dredging, sealing sewage outlets, and other work, the water quality of the Tangjing Shayong reached the standard of being neither black nor odorous.

　　With determination, there is strength! In 2019, Guangzhou and Foshan jointly tackled the problem, accelerating the progress of rainwater and sewage separation and the construction of water treatment facilities. That year, the water quality of the Yagang section of the Guangfo cross-border waterway steadily eliminated Class V inferior water quality and "jumped" to Class IV.

　　In the governance of cross-border rivers, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment established a coordination mechanism for pollution control in key river basins such as the Maozhou River, the Guangfo cross-border river, and the Danshui River, holding coordination meetings with all parties once a month to coordinate the systematic governance of the upstream and downstream and both banks of the river basin. For the 18 key sections to be tackled, a "one river, one map, one table" and "one city, one strategy, one team" work system has been established, with functional departments going to the designated cities and prefectures every month for on-site supervision and guidance, guiding and helping cities and prefectures to solve practical problems.

　　Governing poor water quality and protecting good water quality. In 2019, Guangdong deepened regional pollution prevention and control, jointly signing a pollution prevention and control framework agreement with eight provinces (regions) including Fujian, and continuously promoting cross-provincial basin ecological compensation. Guangdong has cumulatively allocated nearly 1 billion yuan in compensation funds to Guangxi, Fujian, and Jiangxi, promoting significant improvement in the water quality of the Dongjiang, Hanjiang, and Jiuzhoujiang rivers. At the same time, it has basically completed the environmental remediation tasks in 487 county-level drinking water source protection areas, safeguarding the safety of the people's "water tanks."

　　As the water quality of rivers that were once polluted gradually clears, Guangdong's journey in water governance is also quietly changing, from impossibility to possibility, from lack of confidence to full confidence. In the vivid practice of overcoming difficulties and fighting a battle with its back to the wall, Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization has taken root and borne fruit in the land of South China!

　　19 micrograms/cubic meter! As the location of a world-class port, Shenzhen's Yantian District vigorously promotes the construction of a green and low-carbon port, building six sets of ship shore power systems, using "maritime blue" to protect "Shenzhen blue." Since the completion of the shore power system, it has cumulatively provided shore power services to berthed ships for more than 9600 hours, replacing about 7.5 million liters of fuel, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 9400 tons.

　　"Pioneers" accelerate the shift, and "laggards" catch up. As a city that did not meet the PM2.5 standard in 2018, Zhaoqing City, through a closed-loop management system for pollution control with "comprehensive application of monitoring data, practical enforcement of supervision and law enforcement, and quantifiable calculation of governance effects," implemented refined tracking management of air environment governance. Qingyuan City opened an "ecological environment red and black list" column on the local television station and daily newspaper, successively publishing 13 red and black lists and exposing 18 problems, effectively promoting the control of road and construction dust pollution. In 2019, the two cities' air quality improvement rates ranked 4th and 2nd in the province, and PM2.5 both achieved the standard for the first time, both at 32 micrograms/cubic meter.

　　The deeper one goes, the more difficult it becomes. Experts point out that compared to other regions in China, Guangdong's air pollution control has entered the stage of low-level emission reduction and deep-water attack ahead of schedule. Even reducing PM2.5 by 1 microgram/cubic meter requires several times or even ten times more effort than before and than other places. To tackle the tough "bone," various places have vigorously strengthened the control of "scattered, chaotic, and polluting" enterprises and industrial kilns, strengthened the prevention and control of mobile source pollution, and implemented the synergistic control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides.

　　Rainbow after the storm. After twists and turns, Guangdong's air quality continues to lead, with the six major pollutant indicators of air quality in the province meeting the standards for five consecutive years, the average concentration of PM2.5 falling to 27 micrograms/cubic meter, and all 21 prefecture-level cities achieving PM2.5 standards for the first time; Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Shantou, Heyuan, Shanwei, and Maoming, among other seven cities, have PM2.5 levels below 25 micrograms/cubic meter (World Health Organization secondary standard).

　　With the commissioning of the four major hazardous waste comprehensive disposal centers in the "east, west, south, and north," Jiangmen City completed the construction tasks of solid waste treatment and disposal facilities assigned by the province one year ahead of schedule by the end of 2019. The city's newly added hazardous waste collection and treatment capacity is 250,000 tons/year, effectively ensuring high-quality economic and social development in Jiangmen City.

　　Over the past year, taking the central environmental protection solid waste special inspection and rectification as an opportunity, Guangdong has allocated 1 billion yuan to large state-owned backbone enterprises to accelerate the construction of regional solid waste disposal centers. Of the 49 solid waste projects included in the pollution prevention and control battle, 21 have been completed and 21 have started construction. The province's newly added capacity for harmless treatment of hazardous waste such as incineration and landfill is 300,600 tons/year, and the newly added capacity for utilization and disposal of hazardous waste is 1,269,200 tons/year, accounting for 21.7% of the total approved capacity.

　　In addition, high standards have been implemented to rectify the problems fed back by the central environmental protection inspection. Among the 105 rectification tasks, 47 immediate rectification tasks have been completed, and 58 long-term rectification tasks are being continuously promoted; 10,477 letters and visits have been handled, with a handling rate of 99.97%, and the rectification work has been affirmed by the South China Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

　　Reform and innovation, orderly and effective, improving the modernization of environmental governance

　　Seven thematic focused study sessions were held, 13 work research reports were written, and a list of 15 key rectification issues was compiled...

　　Repeated in-depth investigations and inspections at the grassroots level and the effective promotion of rectification work are a true reflection of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment's effective implementation of the "不忘初心、牢记使命" (Never forget the original aspiration, always keep the mission in mind) themed education from July to September last year, combining work practice and focusing on problems and goals.

　　The Guangdong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment continues to push the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party to a deeper level and to the practical level, always paying attention to serving the center and safeguarding the overall situation, requiring full play to the role of party branches as fighting bastions and the exemplary role of party members and cadres, providing a strong political guarantee and organizational guarantee for the province's ecological and environmental protection work.

　　A "1+4" ecological and environmental protection supervision system has been established, consisting of the Provincial Ecological and Environmental Protection Supervision Office and four regional commissioner offices. With the approval of the Central Organization Department, the only vice-ministerial provincial ecological and environmental monitoring institution in the country has been established.

　　A group of good cadres who have emerged in the battle against pollution and the central environmental protection inspection, who are willing to work, able to work, and able to accomplish things, have been selected, optimizing the structure of the department's cadre team, establishing a clear orientation for employing people who are willing to work and make achievements, and creating a good working atmosphere for striving for excellence.

　　As a new institution born in the national institutional reform, the Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment adheres to reform and innovation, focusing on improving the modernization of the environmental governance system and governance capacity, and striving to create a new situation in all aspects of its work.

　　——Improving the ecological and environmental legal and regulatory standards system. The discharge standards for rural domestic sewage treatment and the emission standards for atmospheric pollutants from boilers, glass industry, and ceramics industry have been promulgated and implemented, leading to the improvement of pollution control levels in related industries. The Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment was awarded excellent in the "who enforces the law, who popularizes the law" activity in provincial organs.

　　▲The Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment won the 2019 Guangdong Provincial National Organs "Who Enforces the Law, Who Popularizes the Law" Performance Report Evaluation Award

　　——Innovating market mechanisms in the field of ecological and environmental protection. About 249 controlled emission enterprises in six major industries, including steel, petrochemicals, power, cement, aviation, and papermaking, which account for about 65% of the province's carbon emissions, have been included in carbon emission management, with a fulfillment rate of 99.2%. The province's carbon market has accumulated a total transaction volume of 136 million tons of carbon emission allowances and a transaction value of 2.64 billion yuan, ranking first in the country.

　　——Deepening the construction of the ecological and environmental government affairs system. Accelerating the reform of the "digital government," building an ecological and environmental intelligent cloud platform, and deeply promoting the construction of the "Internet + supervision" system, with a qualified rate of supervision data and a coverage rate of items both reaching 100%. Promoting the standardization of government service items, the immediate processing rate of administrative licensing items has reached 36%, the promised time limit compression ratio has reached 78%, and all application-type items can be handled online, with a processing depth of level IV.

　　——Continuously strengthening the construction of the ecological environment monitoring network. The monitoring responsibilities of 121 county-level air quality monitoring sites have been transferred, and 7 water quality automatic monitoring stations have been rated as the first batch of national "most beautiful water stations." 11 national air radiation automatic monitoring stations and the country's first provincial "communication base station electromagnetic environment management and monitoring platform" have been built. A detailed investigation of soil pollution conditions at 32,623 sites of farmland and a first-phase investigation of 9,452 enterprise land sites have been completed, establishing a soil environment monitoring network covering all counties (cities, districts) in the province. The South China Regional Air Quality Prediction and Forecasting Center and the Soil Sample Preparation and Transfer Center have been completed and put into operation. In the second National Environmental Monitoring Competition, the Guangdong team won all four first prizes, fully demonstrating the strength and style of Guangdong's ecological environment monitoring force.

　　▲Guangdong wins all four first prizes in the second National Environmental Monitoring Competition

　　——Greatly strengthening the construction of the public environmental protection action system. Coordinating and planning the overall environmental publicity and education work, actively exploring new ideas and measures for environmental publicity and education. Carefully organizing a series of activities for the Sixth Five-Year Environmental Day and the eighth Guangdong Environmental Culture Festival, actively promoting green creation and the opening of environmental facilities to the public. In 2019, the provincial, municipal, and county (district) three-level linkage, with the participation of governments, enterprises, and the public, carefully organized nearly 200 thematic publicity and practice activities, vigorously promoting public environmental protection awareness.

　　▲Opening environmental facilities to the public to help resolve the "NIMBY effect"

　　History is moving forward, the times are calling, and the people are expecting. At the beginning of the new year, the issuance of the No. 1 order of the Guangdong Pollution Prevention and Control Campaign Command Headquarters in 2020 sounded the charge for the decisive battle and victory in the pollution prevention and control campaign in 2020. Time and tide wait for no man. All regions and departments across the province will continue to thoroughly implement the ecological civilization thought of Xi Jinping and the important speeches, instructions, and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on Guangdong, with the confidence and determination to win the decisive battle, resolutely fight a winning battle in the pollution prevention and control campaign, and make new and greater contributions to the comprehensive building of a moderately prosperous society!