On October 15, 2007, the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing. President Hu Jintao reported to the meeting and clearly proposed to build the conservation culture.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency 

On April 27, 2007, the State Council held the National Teleconference on Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction. Premier Wen Jiabao presented the meeting and delivered important remarks.

Photo by Xinhua News Agency

In 2007, under the wise leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, all provinces, autonomous regions & municipalities and government departments thoroughly implemented the scientific outlook on development, took pollution reduction as one of the major tasks, adopted comprehensive measures, sped up pollution control, made more efforts, and further carried out relevant policies and measures. As a result, they made a breakthrough in pollution reduction with both decrease of COD and SO₂ emissions, and made active progress in environmental protection work.
First, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council highly valued environmental protection work. President Hu Jintao gave important instructions on intensifying the administration by law, devoting more efforts to pollution treatment and striving for the achievement of the target for the control of total amount of pollutants. The State Council printed and distributed a number of important documents, including the Circular on Printing and Distributing the Integrated Work Plan on Energy Saving and Emissions Reduction, Circular on Printing and Distributing the 11th Five-Year Plan on Environmental Protection, and Circular on Transmitting the Implementation Plan and Approach for Statistics, Monitoring and Assessment of Energy Saving and Emissions Reduction. The 17th National Congress of the CPC included the efforts to build a resource-saving and environment-friendly society in the CPC Constitution, and regarded the building of conservation culture as a new requirement for achieving the target of building a Xiaokang Society in an all-round way.
Second, a breakthrough was achieved in pollution reduction. COD and SO₂ emissions decreased by 3.2% and 4.7% respectively than that of 2006, it is the first time to experience a drop in both COD and SO₂ emissions.
Third, the government tried hard to solve prominent environmental problems that threaten public health and adversely affect sustainable development. More efforts were made to prevent and control pollution in key basins and regions with active progress in cracking down on illegal pollutant discharge enterprises. Special law enforcement inspection was carried out in the drinking water source protection areas, investigating the basic information of such areas. Environmental protection work was launched in rural areas in an all-round way, and all kinds of environmental emergencies were actively responded to and properly handled.
Fourth, the government adopted the policy of regional ban the approval of new projects due to excessive environmental pressure, in order to control pollution at the source. The environmental authority suspended the approval of environmental impact assessment statements of ten cities, two counties, five development zones and four power groups, which frightened the behaviors in violation of environmental laws.
Fifth, the government further improved the legal and economic policies and standardization systems in the environmental sector. It has amended the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, identifies enterprises with outdated production capacity in heavy pollution industries, introduced environment-friendly fiscal, tax, credit, trade, securities, insurance, and pricing policies, and issued 104 national standards for environmental protection.
Sixth, the government launched three fundamental and strategic projects, i.e., the first national census on pollution sources, study on China's macro environmental strategy, and the special S&T project on treatment and control of water pollution.
Seventh, the supervision on nuclear and radiation safety was intensified.
Eighth, the environmental publicity was also intensified. The environmental authority issued the Measures for the Disclosure of Environmental Information (for Trial) in order to safeguard public right to know about, participate in and supervise on environmental protection.
Ninth, the government actively implemented environmental conventions with major breakthrough in international environmental cooperation. Both multilateral and bilateral environmental cooperation have been intensified, and the Chinese government further enhanced its resolute resolve to intensify environmental protection and erected the image of a responsible country in the new era, which won the positive comments from the international community.
In 2007, the overall environmental quality of the whole country turned better but the situation was not inspiring. Surface water pollution was still serious, the seven major water systems suffered from medium pollution, and the offshore areas at large experienced light pollution. The air quality in urban areas was good at large, but some cities still suffered from heavy pollution. Acid rain distribution areas remained stable. The overall urban acoustic environment was good across China and the overall ecological environment remained stable.