Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie answers questions at a press conference of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

Foreign visitors take selfies in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Monday. Photo: VCG

China will focus on a long-term mechanism for environmental protection, including regular inspections and implementing regulations and laws, in an effort to build a beautiful China, senior officials said on Monday.

Environmental protection regulators are completing support measures for the inspections, including the setting up of provincial-level inspection teams, launching a long-term mechanism and passing laws to manage future inspections and environmental protection, Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie told a press conference at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection deployed four teams of environmental inspectors to 31 provincial-level regions, identifying 10,000 people for environmental damages, Li said.

Environmental inspections are meant to correct the ineptitude or misbehavior of local governments on environmental protection, which helps to implement central government policies, Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Beijing-based NGO, told the Global Times on Monday.

To develop a long-term mechanism on inspections, China should also plug the loopholes in local environmental protection systems, Ma said.

Li specifically noted the achievements in preventing and controlling air pollution. In 2016, the average PM2.5 concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta was reduced by over 30 percent from 2013 levels.

PM2.5 refers to particles that are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter that can affect one's lungs.

"Areas affected by acid rain dropped by a record 30 percent to 7.2 percent … The reforestation rate increased from 16.6 percent in the early 2000s to 22 percent. Some 2,750 nature reserves cover 14.9 percent of national land, surpassing the global average," Li said.

Tough road ahead

While environmental protection achievements have been made, officials admitted that preventing and controlling pollution remain tough and greater efforts are needed to meet the public's requirements.

"China has achieved rapid economic growth over the past years of reform and opening-up, but protecting the environment has become a weakness and impedes national development and the public well-being," said Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs.

Yang said current and future difficulties in improving the environment lie in clarifying the responsibilities of different departments, revising laws and regulations in accordance with the situation, strengthening government supervision and promoting a market incentive mechanism.

In terms of preventing and controlling pollution, especially air pollution, Li said that it is not an easy job to achieve the goal of "making fundamental changes in the environment by 2035."

"Pollution remains severe, far from the people's expectations … the average national density of PM10 is 82 micrograms per cubic meter, exceeding the national standard by 17.1 percent … Reforming the industrial and energy consumption structure as well as the transportation system in some areas has not been fully implemented," Li said.

General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping said in the 19th CPC National Congress report on Wednesday that "building an ecological civilization is vital to sustain the Chinese nation's development."

"We must realize that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and act on this understanding, implement our fundamental national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, and cherish the environment as we cherish our own lives," Xi said.

"We must pursue a model of sustainable development featuring increased production, higher living standards, and healthy ecosystems. We must continue the Beautiful China initiative to create good working and living environments for our people and play our part in ensuring global ecological security," Xi said.

Li said that they will continue to focus on fighting pollution by 2020 and make fundamental improvements to the ecological environment by 2035, achieving the goal of building a beautiful China.