The Beidaihe section of Qinhuangdao Bay in Hebei Province has beautiful scenery.

Photo by Cui Gang

Dalmatian pelicans spread their wings and fly in Tiaozini Wetland, Dongtai, Jiangsu Province.

Photo by Sun Jialu (People's Vision)

Tourists play in the Zhanqiao Scenic Area in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Photo by Huang Zhengwei (People's Vision)

The ocean breeds extremely rich species resources and is listed as one of the three major ecosystems in the world along with wetlands and forests. The ocean is a strategic place for high-quality development. Protecting the marine ecological environment is related to building a beautiful China and a strong maritime country, and enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness and security.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the China Ecological and Environmental Protection Conference held recently that we must adhere to the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sands, and build a large-scale protection and management pattern from the top of the mountain to the ocean.

Strengthening the construction of marine ecological civilization is an important part of the construction of ecological civilization. In the past ten years of the new era, China has placed the construction of ecological civilization in a prominent position in the overall work, and the protection of the marine ecological environment has been highly valued as an important content. All regions and departments have stepped up efforts in pollution control and ecological protection and restoration, and have implemented major governance actions such as the comprehensive governance battle in the Bohai Sea. With the construction of beautiful bays as the general guide, the land and sea have coordinated to promote the continuous improvement of water quality in coastal waters. The overall quality of China's marine ecological environment has shown a stable and positive trend.

The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to develop the marine economy, protect the marine ecological environment, and accelerate the construction of a strong maritime nation. What are the results of China's marine economic development and ecological and environmental protection? On the new journey, how can we comprehensively promote the construction of a beautiful China and promote the high-quality development of the marine economy with a high level of protection of the marine ecological environment? Recently, reporters conducted interviews in many regions.

--Editor

Strive to basically build beautiful bays in 283 coastal bays in China by 2035

On the coast of Beidaihe District, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, the golden beach stretches and the sea is sparkling.

Citizen Xu Jiaying took her 6-year-old daughter to play at Jinshan Bathing Beach. "In recent years, the environment of Beidaihe's seaside has been getting better and better, and the water quality has also improved. We often bring our children here to dig sand, pick up shells, and step on the water, and we play all day long." Xu Jiaying said.

Last year, the Beidaihe section of Qinhuangdao Bay was selected as one of the first batch of excellent cases of beautiful bays in China. "The whole city has implemented a systematic project to protect the blue sea through coordinated management of land and sea." Jiang Jiwei, a researcher at the Qinhuangdao Municipal Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, said.

The marine ecological environment problems are manifested in the sea, and the roots are on land. In order to control land-based pollution, Qinhuangdao City strictly controls the access of construction projects, and strictly prohibits the layout of projects that are eliminated or restricted by national industrial policies in coastal wetlands to ensure that the nearshore marine environment and coastal landscape are effectively protected. At the same time, strictly investigate and rectify pollution sources such as industrial parks, living sources, and rural non-point sources, and establish a daily patrol mechanism for the coastline.

Niutouya Village, Niutouya Town, Beidaihe District, where the Daihe River flows into the sea. Li Zhiguang, a member of the village committee, is the assistant manager of two ditches in the village that flow into the Daihe River. "We not only have to patrol the ditches, but also publicize environmental protection knowledge to the villagers. Now everyone's awareness of ecological and environmental protection is getting stronger and stronger."

On the basis of the river and lake chief system, Qinhuangdao has established a ditch assistant manager system. "The small ditches and canals that flow into rivers and lakes that flow into the sea, which were not covered by the river and lake chief system, have cleared the responsible persons to further strengthen the prevention and control of pollution in rivers and lakes that flow into the sea." Song Shiying, director of the Qinhuangdao River and Lake Chief Service Center, said.

Qinhuangdao City has also established and improved the marine sanitation system to strengthen the cleaning of river estuaries and the removal and transportation of marine garbage. "We patrol the 23-kilometer coastline of Beidaihe every day. If we find beach garbage and seawater oil pollution, we report it in time. During the peak tourist season, we patrol three times a day." Yao Fei, an enforcement officer of the Beidaihe Branch of the Municipal Ocean and Fisheries Bureau, said.

As the sun sets, the Beidaihe Beach is crowded with tourists. The beautiful picture of clear water, clean beach, and harmonious human-sea relationship has become the golden business card of Qinhuangdao. Since 2020, the proportion of good water quality in the coastal waters of Qinhuangdao City has remained at 100%, and the key bathing beaches in the peak tourist season have all reached Class I seawater quality.

There are numerous bays scattered along China's more than 18,000 kilometers of mainland coastline. "The quality of the water ecological environment on land is reflected in rivers and lakes, while the quality of the water ecological environment in the coastal waters is reflected in bays." A relevant person in charge of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said.

In the past ten years of the new era, China has vigorously promoted the protection of the marine ecological environment. The phased goals and tasks of the comprehensive governance battle of the Bohai Sea have been successfully completed. The coordinated land and sea pollution prevention and control of the coastal waters has continued to advance. The "Blue Bay" remediation action and the coastal protection and restoration project have been implemented in depth. The overall quality of the marine ecological environment has shown a stable and positive trend, and the ecosystem service functions of some sea areas have been significantly improved.

Monitoring data show that in 2022, the proportion of Class I-III water quality sections of state-controlled rivers entering the sea reached 80.0%, an increase of 33.3 percentage points from 2012; the proportion of good water quality in China's coastal waters reached 81.9%, an increase of 18.2 percentage points from 2012. The water quality of rivers entering the sea and coastal waters has been improved in a coordinated manner.

At the same time, China's marine ecological environment protection still has a long way to go, and it is necessary to continue to increase the intensity of comprehensive governance. In 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Natural Resources and other ministries and commissions, issued and implemented the "14th Five-Year Plan for Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection", delineated 283 bays in China's coastal waters, and promoted the high-level protection of the marine ecological environment with the construction of beautiful bays as the main line.

"A beautiful bay should meet the requirements of "clear water, clean beaches, gathering of fish and gulls, and harmony between people and the sea", and be able to provide the public with a beautiful marine environment and high-quality ecological products, and meet the people's growing needs for a better life." A relevant person in charge of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will work with relevant departments and localities to further promote the construction of beautiful bays, coordinate the implementation of land and sea pollution control and other work, and strive to basically build beautiful bays in 283 bays near the coast of China by 2035.

Continue to strengthen the authenticity and systematic protection of marine ecosystems

Tiaozini Wetland in Dongtai City, Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, from a distance, tens of thousands of water birds are densely packed. "The survey in May this year found that two new species, the black short-legged bulbul and the gray tree magpie, were added to the wetland." Lv Hongtao, secretary of the Party Working Committee and director of the Management Committee of Dongtai Coastal Economic Zone, introduced that the number of birds living and foraging here has reached 412 species over the years, and new achievements have been made in bay restoration and ecological protection.

Tiaozini Wetland is named after its strip-shaped harbor. It is an important part of China's first coastal wetland world natural heritage and a key area on the East Asia-Australasian migratory bird route. Millions of migratory birds stop here every year, molt, and overwinter. In recent years, the local area has insisted on ecological priority, continuously strengthened wetland protection and restoration, and made every effort to protect the marine ecological environment.

"In order to help migratory birds find a suitable habitat during high tide, after seeking expert opinions from many parties, we have taken measures such as pond bottom micro-topography transformation, bare beach wetland restoration, and artificial water level regulation on a 720-acre fish pond on the west side of the seawall to create a bird habitat and create a fixed high tide migratory bird habitat." Lv Hongtao said that the water level here is low and the aquatic plants are low, which attracts a large number of water birds to inhabit every high tide.

Jiang Wenkui, a bird protector at Tiaozini Wetland, told reporters that the staff will carry out professional management and maintenance of this migratory bird habitat, including controlling water levels, controlling light pollution, strictly preventing noise, etc., and adjust the slope of the habitat according to the seasonal bird situation. "During the migration season from March to October each year, the birds are relatively dense, and the frequency of water replacement will be higher."

At the same time, the local area has formed a regular patrol and management team, installed 272 networked monitoring facilities, and implemented a "human defense + technical defense" grid management. "Patrol once a day in the morning, afternoon, and night." Jiang Wenkui said that the information monitoring system is networked with the public security department for monitoring. The system will automatically alarm when it finds suspicious points, and the staff will quickly determine the coordinates and deal with them as soon as possible.

This year, 121 Oriental white storks were recorded, and the single record number of Dalmatian pelicans reached 66. Flamingos have flown to Tiaozini Wetland for wintering for 8 consecutive years... "More and more rare species come here to live, which is an important manifestation of the improvement of biodiversity." Jiang Wenkui said.

In recent years, China has continued to strengthen the authenticity and systematic protection of marine ecosystems. Except for major national projects, land reclamation is completely prohibited. The red line area for marine ecological protection has been delineated to be no less than 150,000 square kilometers, and a marine biological ecological protection system mainly composed of various types of protected areas and marine parks has been established.

According to the relevant person in charge of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of 2022, China has established 145 marine-related nature reserves with an area of 7.91 million hectares, allowing important marine ecosystems to recuperate and consolidate their foundations. At the same time, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with several departments, jointly launched the "Green Shield" nature reserve supervision and inspection special action, comprehensively strengthened the supervision and management of various types of nature reserves, including marine types, and continued to increase the rectification of illegal and irregular issues involving nature reserves.

The ecological restoration has achieved remarkable results. Since the 13th Five-Year Plan, China has launched a comprehensive management campaign for the Bohai Sea and coastal protection and restoration projects, and has restored a total of 1,500 kilometers of coastline, 30,000 hectares of coastal wetlands, and restored the area of mangroves to 27,000 hectares, becoming one of the few countries in the world with a net increase in mangrove area. The overall improvement of the marine ecological environment has provided a good habitat for rare and endangered species. The population size of rare and endangered marine species such as Bryde's whales, Chinese white dolphins, and spotted seals has steadily expanded.

The relevant departments will further strengthen the protection, restoration and supervision of marine ecology, accelerate the implementation of major projects for the protection and restoration of important ecosystems in the marine field, continue to increase the protection and restoration of typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, and continuously improve the diversity, stability and sustainability of marine ecosystems.

Adhere to the balance of protection and development, and strive to achieve a win-win situation of economic and ecological benefits

In Jiaojiang District, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, Chen Xiafang, an old man, carried a large bag of plastic garbage and came to the "Little Blue House" garbage recycling site. After clicking on the recorder and smart bracelet carried by the old man, Qiu Pufa, the person in charge of the site, confirmed that the garbage was picked up from the beach and recycled the bag of garbage at a price of 5 yuan per kilogram.

There are 11 such "Little Blue House" sites in the six coastal counties and cities of Taizhou. "These garbage recycling sites are specially set up to collect marine garbage. They are guided by the government and entrusted to Zhejiang Lanjing Technology Co., Ltd.," said Qiu Pufa. "Those who are registered to pick up marine garbage are mainly low-income people and the elderly. As long as they pick up marine garbage for six consecutive months, the company will also pay for their basic social insurance."

"Little Blue House" has attracted more than 1,200 people from coastal villages and towns to participate, and plastic garbage within 1 kilometer of the coastline has been effectively managed. In Taizhou, more than 5,700 fishing boats and more than 1,300 commercial ships have also joined the ranks of collecting marine garbage.

By mobilizing marine sanitation workers and fishermen, Taizhou has formed a three-dimensional collection network to implement land defense, gate interception, beach cleaning, ship collection, and classified treatment of marine garbage. On average, each garbage recycling station recycles about 2 tons of marine plastic garbage per month.

After compression and crushing, the recycled marine plastic garbage is sent to the granulation factory to be made into plastic particles, and then made into mobile phone cases, clothing, shoes and other products according to customer needs. Chen Yahong, general manager of the marine business department of Zhejiang Lanjing Technology Co., Ltd., said: "Internationally certified marine plastic particles are more than 1 times more valuable than traditional recycled plastics, and products produced with marine plastic garbage as raw materials are sold at twice the price of similar products."

Through the "blue cycle" marine plastic garbage management model, Taizhou has recycled 2,121 tons of marine waste, including 213 tons of plastic bottles (about 10.65 million plastic bottles), reducing carbon emissions by more than 1,900 tons. "We are working hard to solve the problem of marine plastic pollution control and find a new way to marine ecological governance, so as to increase the income of the people while protecting the ecological environment." said Hong Yan, a member of the Party Leadership Group of Jiaojiang Branch of Taizhou Ecological Environment Bureau.

Green water and green mountains are gold and silver mountains, and blue sea and silver beach are also gold and silver mountains. Nan'ao County, Shantou City, the only island county in Guangdong Province, has been repairing and restoring the coastline in recent years to restore the natural beauty of the island. At the same time, it has improved the supporting coastal tourism service facilities. The county's comprehensive tourism income has increased year by year, and ecological protection and tourism industry development complement each other. Ningde City, Fujian Province has been deeply cultivating marine ranches and carrying out large-scale comprehensive rectification of marine aquaculture, guiding farmers to upgrade traditional cages to environmentally friendly plastic cages, and the aquaculture industry has transformed and upgraded to green and low-carbon, which has not only improved the "appearance" but also increased the output value.

Wang Juying, director of the National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, said that the marine economy is becoming a new growth point of the national economy, playing an irreplaceable role in expanding domestic demand, breaking resource bottlenecks, and accelerating the transformation of new and old kinetic energy. Protecting the marine ecological environment is the basis for the sustainable use of marine resources. We must attach equal importance to protection and development, care for the ocean as we care for life, and strive to achieve a win-win situation of economic and ecological benefits.

A relevant person in charge of the Marine Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that they will adhere to the construction of beautiful bays as the main line, and the improvement of ecological environmental quality as the core, and will thoroughly fight the battle of comprehensive governance of key sea areas, increase the protection and restoration of typical marine ecosystems such as mangroves, continuously improve the marine ecological environment, and consolidate the ecological and environmental foundation for sustainable development in coastal areas. Give full play to the supporting, leading, optimizing and forcing role of ecological and environmental protection, gradually abandon extensive marine development and utilization methods, use marine resources efficiently and orderly, develop green and low-carbon economic formats such as marine ranches and offshore wind power, and strive to promote the transformation of the marine economy to a quality and efficiency-oriented one.

Plastic Industry Video