The SEPA held the National Environmental Protection Working System Planning Meeting on November 27. SEPA Minister Zhou Shengxian was present and delivered an important speech at the meeting. He noted that we must earnestly learn and implement the gist of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, fully realize the importance and urgency in doing planning and financial works under the new situation, fulfill our due responsibility, make system innovation, improve related systems, regulate our working team and try to gain groundbreaking progress in coordination and regulation, allocating supporting fund and capacity building in an effort to build solid foundation for the smooth implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan on National Environmental Protection and make more contribution to the building of a well-off society in an all-round way.

Minister Zhou said, that the 11th Five-Year Plan on National Environmental Protection has been adopted at the regular meeting of the State Council and been formally released afterwards following scientific documentation and repeated coordination. This is the first time that the State Council printed and issued a special plan in the form of the document of the State Council, marking the first of its kind in the environmental protection work and a milestone in the history of environmental protection in China. The Plan identifies the guiding thoughts, striving goals, major tasks and crucial measures for the development of the environmental protection undertaking during the 11th Five-Year Plan period, and it is the action guideline for mobilizing all the staff of the environmental protection working system to expedite the promotion of the historic transformation.

Minister Zhou indicated that the report of the 17th National Congress of the CPC stresses that we should fully implement the scientific outlook on development, promote the sound and fast development of national economy and speed up the promotion of social construction focused on the improvement of people's livelihood, and it elevates environmental protection to a vital strategic position. The planning and financial works regarding environmental protection is an important part of the work of the central government in fulfilling its responsibility of macro control, economic regulation and public service and exerts great significance to the attainment of national environmental protection goals and effective allocation of public resources. To reinforce the planning and financial work is the inevitable requirement for enhancing the historic transformation, the major task in advancing key point penetration in full scale, a crucial measure for environmental protection to participate in comprehensive decision-making and macro control and the basis and guarantee for the effective operation and healthy development of administrative organizations.

Minister Zhou added, the 11th Five-Year Plan period is not only a key period in fully establishing a well-off society in full scale, but a major stage for upgrading environmental protection and improving environmental quality. Related planning and financial works must fully materialize the scientific outlook on development, carefully implement the Plan, take a farsighted view, make overall consideration, listen to all valuable opinions, carry out scientific documentation, size up the situation, fully take all the advantages, seek truth and be pragmatic, work with perseverance, give full play to its role of macro control, comprehensive management and being a securing cause, stick to organization and mechanism related innovation, adhere to the principles of performing rigorous management of fund sources, making careful use of capital and giving top priority to quality and spare no efforts in doing four pieces of work on planning, statistics, budget and investment in a bid to build solid foundation for the realization of the environmental protection targets during the 11th Five-Year Plan period.

First, we must carefully materialize the 11th Five-Year Plan on National Environmental Protection. The Plan simplifies related indicators, highlights key points, nails down the source of capital and adds the content of climate change. It serves as a crucial basis for the realization of the environmental protection goals during the 11th Five-Year Plan period. We should break down the indicators and tasks set down in the Plan to all the provinces, autonomous regions and related departments under the State Council and establish rigid accountability system in this regard; fully translate various measures of program-based reduction, structural-related reduction and management-related reduction into real action with the core task of pollution discharge reduction to resolutely fulfill the target of emission reduction; upgrade environmental access standard, seriously tighten water pollution prevention and control of rivers, lakes and oceans and deepen the prevention and control efforts of industrial pollution; and fully deploy the environmental protection work in rural areas. In short, we should strive to control the discharge volume of major pollutants, fully step up the environmental protection infrastructure construction and substantially improve the supervision and inspection capacity of environmental protection within three years.

Second, we must upgrade the tracking adjustment and mid-term appraisal over the implementation situation of the Plan. We must establish the implementation and regulation mechanism of the Plan and incorporate the implementation progress of the Plan as a crucial component into the performance checkup of government at all levels. We must conduct research and draw up the mid-term appraisal and adjustment system over the implementation of the Plan so as to stimulate sound and fast implementation. In addition, we must properly deal with the connection of this work with the macro strategic research on the environment of China, take full consideration of the framework of the 12th Five-Year Plan, target and indicator system, environmental protection input system and related policy and laws and regulation system to make sufficient mental and work preparation for the compilation of the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Third, we must implement the 11th Five-Year Plan on National Environmental Supervision Capacity Building in full range. We must give full play to the enthusiasm of both the central and local government and incorporate environmental protection capacity building into the expenditure budget of financial bureaus at all levels. We must highlight the aim during the drafting and implementation of projects, properly handle the compilation and implementation of key projects and seriously deal with the relationship between hardware construction and software construction and earnestly ensure the channel and source for the fund raising for environmental protection. In addition, we should in fully amplify the training of talents, foster and build up a group of innovative professional talents.

Fourth, we must properly handle the work of pollution source census and increase our efforts in the reform of statistical works. The national pollution source census is a major strategic and fundamental project for environmental protection, therefore we should put great amount of endeavor in properly connecting the two tasks of pollution source census and environmental statistical reform, constantly improve the quality of statistic data and study the application of the data gained from the census in advance so as to bring the best effect of the result of the pollution source census. Besides, we should consolidate the system of regular analysis of environmental situation and actively participate in macro economic decision making.

Minister Zhou stressed that related planning and financial departments are shouldering great responsibility and face arduous tasks. First, they should heighten responsibility by earnestly strengthening organization and leadership. We must always place planning and financial work at a crucial position. The chief principal should personally supervise and take charge of all the works, while the official of the subordinate level in charge of the specific work should take care of the specific matters so as to really exert the leading role of planning and the securing function of financial works. We must highly value the role of planning in supporting major decision making and foster a sound atmosphere of respecting planning and materializing planning during the decision making process. Second, we must make innovation in related mechanisms and establish complete and scientific planning and financial system. We should develop the planning system with well-defined functions, sound embodyment of related policies and coordination between state-level planning and local planning and between overall planning and special planning. We must spend great efforts in conducting related preparatory works including basic investigation, information searching, subject research and project documentation. We should establish a scientific technical system on the implementation and evaluation of planning and materialize the working mechanism under work division and coordination and unified supervision so as to ensure the smooth implementation of the planning. Third, we must consolidate our system and seriously standardize our planning and financial work. We should focus our attention on the establishment and improvement of the planning drafting and management system, budget management system, financial operation supervision system, government procurement and bidding system, project management system, expert consultation and evaluation system, state assets management system and the system for the publishing of statistical data, basic investigation results and information so as to live up to the principle of having regulations available for observation and data for reference. Fourth, we should make sound management and use of the capital to bring about the maximum effect of every sum of fund. The progressive development of environmental protection cause will definitely lead to huge investment in environmental protection. The planning and financial departments are shouldering various crucial and sensitive responsibilities of investment planning, project management, key project construction, government procurement, bidding, department budget and financial management, therefore, we must pay great attention to the building of a honest party and a clean government, consciously resist all forms of temptation, receive the surveillance of the public and the media and constantly maintain great vitality, high spirit and awe-inspiring righteousness. Fifth, we must intensify the construction of our work team and constantly improve our working capability. We must maintain inspiring work attitude and energetic spiritual appearance and try to develop a group of cadres of political firmness, professional proficiency and sound working style.

The Meeting honored the National Advanced Environmental Statistical Working Group, advanced individuals and honorary workers during the 10th Five-Year Plan period. Representatives from five provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong and Chongqing Municipality delivered speeches on their respective deeds.

The Meeting was hosted by SEPA Vice Minister Zhou Jian.

Related personnel from environmental protection departments or bureaus of various provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, the EPB of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corp, the EPB of cities specifically designated in the state plan and the SEPA attended the Meeting.