Chongqing - On January 13, Yu Guodong, director of Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, revealed at a press conference that in 2024, Chongqing's water quality is continuously improving.
Chongqing section of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II standards for eight years, and for two consecutive years, all 74 state-monitored sections have hit the mark for good water quality.
The water quality of the Fengjie section of the Yangtze River has remained stable at Class II for eight consecutive years. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau)
The city's air quality has also seen stability, with over 325 days of good air quality for five consecutive years and no heavy pollution for seven consecutive years.
The city of Chongqing. (Photo/Zheng Ran)
Yu said that Chongqing has been actively building a "waste-free" ecosystem, establishing over 3,500 waste-free city cells, including factories, schools, and hospitals. The city has also improved river outfalls, with a 98% remediation completion rate for 4,012 river outfalls in the mainstream sections of the Yangtze River, Jialing River, and Wujiang River.
The Taohua Brook in Changshou District, Chongqing. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau)
In ecological restoration, Chongqing has restored 662 hectares of historical and closed mines, and the ecological restoration project of Tongluo Mountain Mine Area has been chosen as a top example within the United Nations "Decade of Ecological Restoration" initiative.
Chongqing has also made significant strides in biodiversity protection, establishing the first regional database of thuja resources in China, publishing the second atlas of invasive alien species in China, and compiling the city's terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity conservation atlas. The number of fish monitored in the Yangtze River mainstream section has more than doubled compared to before the 10-year fishing ban, and rare and endangered species like the Acipenser dabryanus and myxocyprinus asiaticus are being effectively protected.
Conservation team collecting seeds of the rare Thuja from cliff edges. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau)
In green transformation, Chongqing has created 170 national-level green factories and 16 green parks. Chongqing's carbon market has seen the highest price increase among China's eight pilot markets, with a cumulative trade of 52.99 million tons in 2024. The city also made its first presentation on green and low-carbon transformation at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29).
To enhance environmental management, the Chongqing government has strengthened prevention and control at the source. Industrial pollution control measures include incentivizing enterprises to conduct in-depth treatments through special subsidies. Traffic pollution control focuses on adjusting transportation structures, promoting new energy vehicles (NEVs), and eliminating old fuel vehicles, with 133,000 fuel vehicles eliminated and 253,000 NEVs promoted.
Yu said that the next steps will involve upgrading these digital applications. Through big data and intelligent means, more accurate monitoring and analysis of various environmental factors will be realized, promoting environmental management to refinement and intelligence.