demo counties for economic & intensive use of natural resources released
by li linxu
in its latest push to promote high-quality development, china has released the first batch of national demonstration counties for economic and intensive use of natural resources.
a total of 258 counties or cities were selected from 373 applicants, according to the ministry of natural resources (mnr).
the successful applicants can be further divided into three categories, with 183 for land resources, 57 for mineral resources and 18 for marine resources.
hebei province, henan province, shandong province, hunan province, and jiangsu province are among the top performers in the number of successful applicants.
zhangjiagang, a county-level city of jiangsu province, is one such model city in land use. while actively optimizing the layout of industrial land, the city has rolled out differentiated tax, water and electricity measures for industrial projects and enterprises, in line with their assessment results in economic and intensive use of resources.
zhangjiagang's jinghu lake ecological park. (photo: vcg)
the construction of national demonstration counties is a follow-up measure in the implementation of the 14th five-year plan for natural resources protection and utilization, said an official from mnr.
these counties or cities are tasked with promoting green and low-carbon ways of production and life, so as to set benchmarks in the economic and intensive utilization of land, mineral and marine resources for their counterparts.
of particular note is that in the 20th cpc national congress report, china vowed to implement a comprehensive conservation strategy, conserve resources of all types and use them efficiently.
meanwhile, the report also pledges to boost green and low-carbon industries and improve the system for market-based allocation of resources and environmental factors.
focusing on the economic and intensive use of natural resources, innovative practices will be encouraged in these counties, according to mnr.
