• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

China's party paper hails new emphasis on forestry, environment

Posted on: Thursday, 11 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

China's party paper has said the publication of a decision to speed up the development of forestry marks the start of a new era in which the improvement of the environment is primary. It notes that at present the environmental function of the forests is weak and that although the state of the environment has improved, environmental deterioration has not been reversed completely. It says that forests are the mainstay of the ecological system on the land and the publication of the decision show's the resolve of the party and the State Council to improve the conditions for the Chinese people. The following is the text of an editorial entitled: "An important strategic move in the all-out building of a well-off society", published by Chinese Communist Party newspaper Renmin Ribao web site on 11 September

The "Central Committee and State Council Decision on Accelerating the Development of Forestry" has formally been promulgated. This decision by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council is a document providing the guiding principles for stepping up the development of forestry in China in this new century and new phase. It embodies the use of the important thinking of the "Three Representations" [Chinese: san ge dai biao; on the importance of the Communist Party in modernizing the nation representing the demands for the development of advanced social productive forces, the direction of advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the greatest majority of the people] to guide forestry work. It is an important strategic move in the implementation of the spirit of the 16th Party Congress and the all-out building of a well-off society.

The Central Committee and the State Council have always put great emphasis on forestry. Since the start of reform and opening up, and in particular since 1997 when Comrade Jiang Zemin issued the call to make our mountains and rivers beautiful again, there have been major achievements in the build-up of forestry in China. Through more than half a century of hard work by people throughout the country, China has racked up timber production of over 5bn cu.m., while amassing manmade forest conservation areas of over 700m mu [1.16bn acres], making China first in all the world, with 26 per cent of all the world's manmade forest area. This is a marvel of history, in China or anywhere else.

However, seen overall, China is still a country lacking in forests and other greenery. China does not have enough forests in total, the ones we have are unevenly distributed, and they are not of good quality overall. The environmental function of forests is very weak. The state of the environment has improved in part, but the overall trend of deterioration has not yet been completely reversed. China has now entered a new phase, that of the all-out building of a well-off society and the acceleration of socialist modernization. China is currently working hard to open up a path of enlightened development with the development of production, prosperous lives, and an excellent environment. Environmental requirements have become society's number one demand regarding forestry. Thus there is an urgent requirement for forestry to achieve a historic transformation from timber production as primary to improving the environment as primary. Development by leaps and bounds is urgently required in forestry.

The "Central Committee and State Council Decision on Accelerating the Development of Forestry" lays out the guiding ideology, the basic policy, the strategic objectives, and the strategic focus of forestry with improving the environment as the primary element in the new century. The document reorganizes and optimizes the distribution of productive forces in forestry. The document also makes a major readjustment of forestry's structure, mechanisms, and policies. It solves a series of major problems which the development of forestry has faced and which urgently awaited resolution. And the document points out the direction in which development by leaps and bounds in forestry should proceed. The publication of the "Decision" marks the end of the era in which forestry in China considered timber production to be primary, and the start of the era in which improving the environment is primary. The publication of this document shows clearly the resolve of the Central Committee and the State Council to improve the conditions in which the Chinese people exist and develop. The document is of great immediate significance, as well as far-reaching historic significance, in promoting development by leaps and bounds in forestry in achieving the grand objective of beautifying our mountains and rivers, in protecting the nation's environment, and in the all-out building of a well-off society.

We must recognize completely that accelerating the development of forestry and making our mountains and rivers beautiful again is a specific way to put into practice the important thinking of the "Three Representations". Coordinated development of the environment and the economy is an inevitable requirement of advanced productive forces; harmony between people and nature is an important element of advanced culture; fostering forests and other vegetation, and remediating harm from water, drought, and sand, is one of the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people.

The "Decision" of the Party Central Committee and the State Council points out clearly that "forestry must be accorded a place of importance in the implementation of sustainable development; forestry must be given a place of primary importance in improving the environment; forestry must play a fundamental role in the great development of western China." China is a great agricultural country, the whole country is now headed for moderate prosperity, and the focal point and the difficult problems involve agricultural villages. Accelerating the development of forestry plays an important role in absorbing excess labour in agricultural villages, in achieving moderate well-being in agricultural villages, and in maintaining social stability.

Accelerating improvement of the environment and protecting the environment is an important issue which all of humanity faces in common in the 21st century. This is an important foundation for achieving sustainable economic and social development. Forests are the mainstay of the ecological system on land. Forests play an indispensable supporting role in preserving balance in the ecological system on land. The "Decision" of the Party Central Committee and the State Council summarizes the rules by which economic and social development must proceed. The document incorporates humanity's most recently acquired understanding of forests. The document is of extremely great importance in hastening the achievement of the grand objective of beautifying China's mountains and rivers, in protecting the nation's environment, and in achieving coordinated environmental and economic development.

There is now a surge of afforestation. Party Committees and governments at all levels must stand on the high ground of the implementation of the important thinking of the "Three Representations", look to the overall situation of the all-out building of a well-off society and the achievement of sustainable economic and social development, and recognize in full the importance and urgency of the development of forestry in this new century and new phase, unite closely around the party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as its general secretary, take the important thinking of the "Three Representations" as the guiding policy, conscientiously implement the spirit of the "Decision", mobilize and organize the masses of hundreds of millions of people to get involved in the great enterprise of accelerating the development of forestry and making our mountains and rivers beautiful again, and make greater contributions to the all-out building of a well-off society.

More News in this Category