Chongqing—Southwest China’s Chongqing made major strides in ecological governance in H1 2025, focusing on building a “zero-waste city” and advancing industrial recycling, officials said at a July 10 press conference.
On May 29, the Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 train passes near Dadukou Station under a bright blue sky dotted with white clouds. (Photo/Zhong Ge)
Liu Qin, deputy director of Chongqing Ecology and Environment Bureau, announced that the city had upgraded its "zero-waste index" and cumulatively established over 3,800 "zero-waste city cells" across sectors, including education, communities, and daily life.
In parallel, the Southwest Regional Hazardous Waste Treatment Center passed national review, and the city's hazardous waste disposal capacity has more than doubled compared to the end of the country's 13th Five-Year Plan.
Hechuan District of Chongqing has led the local implementation of waste resource utilization. Qin Jianguo, Director of the Hechuan District Bureau of Ecology and Environment, stated that the district's industrial solid waste utilization rate exceeded 95%.
Taking the aluminum industry as an example, Hechuan relies on Chongqing Shunbo Aluminum Alloy to develop a closed-loop circular economy that spans "recycled aluminum resources–aluminum alloy processing-end consumption-recycled aluminum recovery."
"The energy consumption per ton of recycled aluminum in our district is about 104 kg of standard coal, 20% lower than the national standard," Qin noted. Compared to traditional processes, natural gas use is reduced by 30%. Shunbo's annual capacity of 300,000 tons saves around 7,800 tons of standard coal and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 19,000 tons annually.
Beyond waste management, Chongqing continued to strengthen environmental governance across sectors. Liu said the city promoted the rectification of sewage outflows into both main and tributary rivers, launched full-scale aquatic ecosystem monitoring, and established cross-provincial cooperation mechanisms in the Yangtze River Basin.
"As of June, the water quality of the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River mainstem remained steadily at Class II," Liu confirmed.
In water ecosystem recovery, the Apeng River in Qianjiang District, now a national wetland park, was highlighted as one of eight rivers and lakes named to Chongqing's 2024 "Beautiful Rivers and Lakes" list.
The Apeng River. (Photo/Chongqing Ecology and Environment Bureau)
Bai Xingmao, chief of the Pollution Prevention Section of Qianjiang District Ecology and Environment Bureau, explained that ecological buffer zones and wetland projects covering 400,000 square meters had been completed and are part of river management.
Today, rare species have been reintroduced, and animals such as the Chinese giant salamander and Distylium myricoides inhabit the restored areas.
According to Liu, Chongqing also upgraded its air quality by completing 123 ultra-low emission projects in the steel industry and 17 in cement and other sectors. Over 70,000 outdated diesel vehicles were phased out, and 114 enterprises were rated "good" or above in environmental performance.
Shapingba District emerged as a model for air quality improvement. "By June 30, the average PM2.5 concentration in Shapingba stood at 31.2 µg/m³, down 8.2% from 34 µg/m³ during the same period last year," said He Yi, head of the district's ecological enforcement team.
According to He, the district cut pollution by phasing out high-emission industries and building a green industrial cluster led by Seres, an intelligent electric vehicle manufacturer. New buses are now fully powered by clean energy.
Shapingba has built 133 EV charging stations—51 of them supercharging—and uses the “Bayu Zhiqi” platform to integrate data from over 500 sensors and multiple utilities. The system monitors over 200 pollution sources and enables coordinated responses across city, district, and township levels.