Environmentalpollutionissuchanimminentissuethatitthreatenspeople鈥檚healthandsocialstability.Thewholeofsocietyhasreachedaconsensusthatrapideconomicgrowthatthecostofpollutingtheenvironmentismeaningless.
HuangLanghui,formerChiefofEnterpriseInvestigationTeamoftheNationalBureauofStatistics
ALTHOUGHwinterisfastfadingintospringinnorthernChina鈥檚HebeiProvince,thealmostdailycurtainsofsmogthatcovertheregionareagreatcauseofconcernforJiangTing,a30-year-oldnewmom.Apartfrominconveniencestolifeandworkbroughtbythesevereairpollution,Jiangworriesmoreabouttheharmtoherhealth,andmoreespeciallytothatofhervulnerableyoungson.
StatisticsreleasedbyChina鈥檚MeteorologicalAdministrationshowedseverecontinuoussmogcloudedChina鈥檚Beijing-Tianjin-HebeiregiononeightoccasionsfromNovember2016toearlyFebruary2017.
鈥淚ndeed,ourgenerationgrewupinanaffluentenvironment,buttheskyisnobluerthanthetimewhenIwasakid,鈥滼iangtoldChinAfrica,addinghernew-yearexpectationistohavemoreblueskydays.
Whileseeinganimprovementinlivelihoodbothinherfamilyandlocalcommunityoverthepastthreedecades,Jiangsaidshealsosawthenegativesideofthisdevelopment,namelyhowtheenvironmentwasgraduallypolluted.Thiswasanunexpectedresultofsomelocalgovernments鈥檖ursuitofimpressiveGDPfiguresattheexpenseofenvironment.
ThegoodnewsisthatJiang鈥檚dreamforblueskiesisonthewaytobeingrealizedasChinaembracesanewreformonevaluatingitsofficials.Forthefirsttimesincethelate1970s,whenChinaadoptedthereformandopeninguppolicy,governmentofficials鈥檆ommitmenttoenvironmentalprotectionwillbegivenhigherprioritythanGDPgrowthinevaluatingtheiradministrativeperformance.
Changingpriorities
OnJanuary12,2017,ZhaoChenxin,SpokespersonoftheNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission,saidatapressbriefingthatChinawouldimplementanewassessmentmechanismforgovernmentofficialsinwhichofficials鈥檖erformancewouldbeevaluatedmainlybasedonvariousenvironment-relatedindicators,includingresourcesutilization,environmentquality,ecologicalprotection,greenlifestyleandpublicsatisfaction.
Underthenewmechanism,indicatorsrelatedtoeconomicgrowthonlycarryaweightvalueof9.2percent,lessthanhalfofthatrelatedtoenvironmentsuchasresourcesutilizationandenvironmentquality,whichstoodat29.3percentand19.2percentrespectively.
Morespecifially,thelevelofatmosphericparticulatemattersthathaveadiameterlessthan2.5micrometers(PM2.5)isweightvaluedinthenewmechanismat2.75percent.
OfficialsinChinaareevaluatedeveryyearandreceiveageneralassessmenteveryfiveyears.Previously,GDPgrowthwasthemostimportantcriterionintheseprocesses.Expertsbelievethathighlightingtheenvironment-relatedindicatorsinthenewmechanismmeansthatthebatonofChina鈥檚economicperformanceisabouttobepassed,frompursuingapuregrowthratetoanapproachoffocusingonpeople鈥檚wellbeing.
鈥淭heindicatorsandmechanismaredesignedtoguidelocalgovernmentstoplaceimprovingpeople鈥檚wellbeinginvariousaspectsatthecenteroftheirwork,pushingthem[officials]tostepupeffortsonimprovingtheenvironmentquality,鈥漵aidZhao.
HuangLanghui,formerChiefofEnterpriseInvestigationTeamoftheNationalBureauofStatistics,notedthatthissymbolizedamajorchangeinChina鈥檚developmentmode.
鈥淓nvironmentalpollutionissuchanimminentissuethatitthreatenspeople鈥檚healthandsocialstability.Thewholeofsocietyhasreachedaconsensusthatrapideconomicgrowthatthecostofpollutingtheenvironmentismeaningless,鈥漢esaid.
Implementationkey
Withconsensusandmechanisminplace,executioniskeytocontrolpollutionandreformthedevelopmentmode.鈥淎ssessmentandevaluationbysuperiorsisthebatonforofficials.Thedirectionitleadsshouldbethegoalofficialsfightfor,鈥漵aidmediacommentatorLiYiling.HearguedthatthetargetofgreendevelopmentwouldbeeasilyreachediftheimpulseforpureGDPgrowthwascontained.
However,itisnoeasytasktochangeanembeddedGDP-orientedevaluationmechanismovernightandimplementthenewstandards.鈥淲henitcomestoimplementation,itisdifficulttocollectstatisticsabouttheseindicators.Therefore,mostcountriesintheworldstillevaluateofficialswithGDPgrowthastheprincipalreference,鈥漵aidHuChi,aresearcherattheState-OwnedAssetsSupervisionandAdministrationCommissionoftheStateCouncil.
LialsoarguedthatitwaspredictablethatlocalgovernmentswouldcontinuetocompeteinGDPgrowth.鈥淚nthecurrentstage,thetendencyofjudgingofficialsbasedonthelocaleconomy,bothbyhigherauthoritiesandthepublicmaycontinueasitisasimplercriterion,鈥漵aidLi.鈥淎ctually,itisgoodforofficialstobeevaluatedfromvariousaspects,becauseeconomicgrowthratesmayvaryindifferentregionsduetouniquenaturalresourcesendowment,innovationability,andstageofindustrialization,鈥漵aidLi.
ChaiFahe,aresearcherfromChineseResearchAcademyofEnvironmentalSciences,praisedthemoveofmakingenvironment-relatedindicatorsoutweighGDPgrowthinassessingofficials.鈥淚tshowstheCentralGovernmentisplacingunprecedentedemphasisoncombatingairpollution.However,itshouldbecautiousincasesomelocalofficialsreportfalsifiedstatisticsaboutpollutioncontrolsothattheycanreachtheassessmentcriteria,鈥漢ewarned.
Toavoidthistendency,Lisuggestedzero-tolerancetowardofficialsfalsifyingstatisticsandinvitingthepublictomonitorofficials.鈥淎furtherdetailedevaluationsystemshouldbeputinplaceandresultsoftheassessmentshouldbemadeknowntothepublic,鈥漢esaid.
ShijiazhuangRailwayStationinHebeiProvinceinsmoginDecemberlastyear.Fightingairpollutionisoneofthegoalsoftheofficialevaluationsystemreform
YaoBaozhong,chiefofDanshanVillageinShaoxingCityofZhejiangProvince,isnowresponsiblefortheprotectionofanearbyriverCommentsto