The Year 2007 marks a page full of magnificent events in the environmental protection history of China. The "two sessions" (namely the full conference of the NPC and the NPPCC) attached high importance to environmental protection work; the State Council set up a leading group for energy conservation and emission reduction headed by Premier Wen Jiabao and issued the 11th Five Year Plan on National Environmental Protection; the Economic Work Meeting of the Central Committee of the CPC thoroughly analyzed the situation and tasks of environmental protection at present and in the near future. In particular, the 17th National Congress of the CPC put forward for the first time the strategic thought of building conservation culture, signifying that environmental protection has been streamlined into the main theme, major battlefield and stage of the political, economic and social life of China as a basic state policy. The earnest implementation of the gist of the 17th National Congress of the CPC, the adherence to the principle of putting people at the first place and promotion of the construction and development of conservation culture are the soul for instructing the environmental protection work under the new situation.

Following unremitting efforts of the environmental protection working system in the past year nationwide, the environmental protection work of China has attained positive results. The presentation and implementation of the strategic thought of "letting rivers, lakes, ponds and oceans have a rest" has deepened the concept, widened the scope of and adjusted the direction of pollution treatment within a river basin. The practice of project prohibition with a certain region or a river basin has remarkably driven economic and industrial restructuring. The joint issuance of the Suggestions on the Implementation of Policies, Laws and Regulations regarding Environmental Protection for the Prevention of Credit Risk by the SEPA, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission propelled the environment related economic policies to proceed from theory to practice. The special environmental protection move on the rectification of illegal pollution discharging enterprises for securing people's health has greatly frightened environmental law-breaking activities and safeguarded the environmental rights and interest of the general public. Our hard efforts was returned by a "double fall" of the total discharge volume of major pollutants nationwide in the first three quarters of last year for the first time, and the environmental protection work of China has shifted from the stage of passive treatment to active treatment.

The building of conservation culture lodged at the 17th National Congress of the CPC points out the direction for environmental protection work under the new situation. As a form of human civilization, conservation culture includes both natural ecological issues and the spiritual issues of human being. Under the premise of respecting and sustaining mother nature, it upholds the tenets of harmonious co-existence between man and nature as well as between man and the society, renders the connotation of establishing sustainable production and consumption pattern and proceeds from the point of guiding people to take the path of sustainable and harmonious development. Conservation culture pursues the harmony not only between man and ecology but also the harmony between people and people. In addition, the harmony between people and people serves as the precondition for the harmony between man and nature. To this end, we must seize the historic opportunity and vigorously boost the progress of conservation culture.

Mentally speaking, we must have a correct understanding of the relationship between environmental protection and economic development and accelerate the realization of the "three transformations": first, shifting from a single economic focus to a dual and equal focus on both environmental protection and economic growth; second, reducing the lag between economic growth and environmental protection in such a way as to ensure both are on an equal plane; third, shifting from the sole reliance on administrative means to the use of legal, economic, technological and necessary administrative means to protect the environment. We must firmly establish the concept of performing economic structure optimization through environmental protection and treat environmental protection as the major task for the promotion of development under the new situation.

With regard to the policy, we must approach the issue of environmental protection from the perspective of national development strategy. We must immediately formulate relevant pricing, fiscal, taxation, financial and land related policies conducive to environmental protection so as to enable the full incorporation of policies encouraging economic development with the ones encouraging environmental protection. Regarding the development layout, we should observe natural laws, launch the work of national eco-functional protected areas in line with different environmental functions and resource and environmental bearing capacity of each locality, define the development mode of each place in light of the requests of optimized development, key development, restricted development and prohibited development, guide each locality to rationally choose its own development direction and foster the development layout with diversified characteristics. Regarding the development plan, we should further optimize the layout of heavy chemical industry, adjust industrial structure and transform their economic growth pattern.

With regard to related measures, we must perform the most stern environmental protection system. Those heavily-polluting outdated techniques, technologies, equipment, production capacity and products must all be eliminated, construction projects failing to meet related environmental protection requirements should all be rejected, industrial enterprises with beyond-standard pollution discharge or exceeding the total pollution discharge volume quota should all be stopped for production for rectification, project prohibition should be practiced in regions failing to meet the target of total volume control of major pollutants, and all crimes or illegal activities damaging the environment should all be subject to severe punishment.

With regard to actual move, we should mobilize the whole society to protect the environment. We should carry out extensive public campaign and education on environmental protection, strengthen inter-departmental coordination, intensify social supervision, establish the science and technology innovation and scientific decision making mechanism, amplify public participation mechanism and upgrade the environmental protection work at the grass root level of the society. We should also actively guide and encourage the general public to participate in environmental protection works so as to enable every citizen to voluntarily fulfill their legal obligation of environmental protection while enjoying their environmental rights and interests.

2008 marks the starting year for the materialization of the gist of the 17th National Congress of the CPC and a year of key importance to the in-depth implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan on National Environmental Protection and to the advancement of the task of energy conservation and emission reduction in full scale. The environmental protection working system across the nation should grasp the main theme, take hold of the major battlefield and get onto the main stage to take the building of conservation culture as our due responsibility. Centered on the major issue of addressing outstanding environmental problems jeopardizing people's health and affecting sustainable development, we must fully enhance the work of energy conservation and emission reduction, take more efforts in securing the attainment of the target of lifting the up-to-the-standard level of all the major indicators of major drinking water source areas up to 100%. Focused on the strategic deployment of "letting rivers, lakes, ponds and oceans have a rest", we should make overall arrangement and planning of while giving due consideration to the accomplishment of the five major tasks of project prohibition with river basins, comprehensive treatment of the water body of major lakes, prevention and control of water pollution of major river basins, prevention and control of industrial pollution and rural environmental protection. We should fully advance the three major fundamental and strategic projects of environmental protection to make some breakthrough by sticking to the concept of pursuing long-term interest and building a solid foundation. We should step up efforts in environmental law enforcement and supervision so as to resolve a string of prominent environmental problems jeopardizing people's health. We should initiate various environmental protection special actions closely centered on the two objectives of safeguarding people's health and energy conservation and emission reduction. We should heighten related popularization and education work to increase the environmental knowledge and awareness of the Chinese people. We should continue to proceed with the "five major construction tasks" in governmental departments to cultivate a group of environmental protection professionals with sound political quality, great expertise and high spirit of dedication.

There is tough work ahead and a long way to go for the environmental protection undertaking of China. The environmental protection working system nationwide should boost our sense of responsibility and mission, further our understanding of environmental protection, put more efforts in carrying out the work of energy conservation and emission reduction and various pieces of ongoing works, try all out to promote the historic transformation, be positive and enterprising, advance in pioneering spirit, translate the gist of the 17th National Congress of the CPC into real action and make new contribution to carrying forward the conservation culture and establishing a environment-friendly society.