reposted from the shanghai municipal government
shanghai party chief han zheng chaired a work conference on ecological planning for chongming on the afternoon of september 21. mr. han stressed that the importance of developing chongming into an eco-friendly island must be understood to have a holistic perspective and a strategic vision. in keeping with the principle of eco-friendliness, development of the island must be guided by a higher standard and a grander vision to ensure better quality. “the goal of an eco-friendly island must be pursued with vigour, bottom-line thinking and a long-term perspective, as it bears on shangai’s development at present and in the future and the nation’s overall strategy,” said mr. han.
to oppose any act which would harm the environment
in the afternoon, mr. han inspected progress of chongming’s ecological development with vice party chief and executive vice mayor ying yong, municipal cpc committee standing committee member and secretary-general yin hong, deputy director xue chao of municipal people's congress and vice mayor jiang zhuoqing. he was informed of revisions to the overall ecological planning and the regulatory plan for chenjiazhen. at the ensuing work conference, mr. han listened to officials from the district government, municipal development and reform commission, municipal planning, land and resources administration, municipal science & technology commission, municipal commission of housing and urban-rural development, shanghai environmental protection bureau, shanghai green and urban appearance bureau, and shanghai municipal commission of economy and informatisation and discussed issues and solutions with the participants.
mr. han remarked that the unique status and role of chongming must be understood holistically and strategically: as a gift from nature, the island was important for shanghai, china and the world at large. we simply could not do enough to protect the ecological conditions of the island. not only should we protect it, we must also make up for harmful actions, as reserving the diversity of natural resources was our duty to the world. chongming, an important ecological barrier for shanghai, was key to the municipality’s vegetation, water, wind direction, and natural environment in general. development and positioning of the island, therefore, must be reviewed in ecological terms. the principle of eco-friendly development must be upheld firmly with ecological considerations given priority to. any short-termist approach or acts which could do harm to the ecological barrier would be fought against. chongming, an irreplaceable strategic place for shanghai in the 21st century, must be developed into a high-level eco-friendly island. for that end, composure, bottom-line thinking and a long-term perspective were imperative. “the municipal cpc committee and government do not want development of the island to be rushed, as ecological requirements must be met. so be very composed,” remarked han zheng.
to keep to ecological development
“the path to an eco-friendly island has been challenging,” han zheng noted. successive central governments had paid much attention to and acknowledged the endeavour. instructions from the central leadership and over 10 years of hard work had resulted in significant results, laying the foundation for future work. thanks to the effort of the cadres and the people, a framework for eco-friendly development had been built and the awareness had been raised. mr. han said we must deepen our understanding and improve the quality and efficiency of our work under the new circumstances. officials from all levels of the municipal government must be keenly aware of the fact that ecological development of chongming was a priority for shanghai; as such, continuous support from the government must be guaranteed. chongming should stick to the path of eco-friendly development, with full effort given to protect, restore and develop the ecological environment. next, chongming would strive for coordination between the main island, changxing island and hengsha island, with the main island focusing on ecological development, changxing island for industrial development, and hengsha island designated as a primitive area for future generations.
all projects pending for the updated regulatory plan
han zheng stressed that a new urban center would not be developed in chongming. that was a common stance which must be maintained for the long term. chenjiazhen, a benchmark for chongming, must be developed to good effect. a good system would be in place to raise the standard. all built environments on the island must reach the highest environmental and energy efficiency standard. buildings should not look out-of-place on the island, but in harmony with the natural environment and representative of the locale and the texture of china. revisions to the overall ecological planning needed to be completed without delay and the regulatory plan for chenjiazhen would be updated accordingly. construction projects or the approval thereof would be suspended until the revised plan was adopted. relevant authorities would organise an expert committee to provide intellectual support for the development effort. while the district took primary responsibility, the municipality would support the effort as that was our common obligation towards future generations.
a good environment would be our invaluable treasure
ying yong pointed out that a good environment was our invaluable treasure. chongming must follow the consistent and confirmed positioning and requirements by the municipal cpc commission and the municipal government. that chongming would pursue a path of eco-friendly development must be clearly understood and firmly adhered to; actions toward that goal must be taken with greater initiative. the principle of eco-friendliness must be materialised in the day-to-day work, including shifting the development model, industrial restructuring, and optimising regional development. economic growth should be achieved along with sustainability. research and design must be strengthened for a grander vision, more solid foundation work, and a more vigorous standard in keeping with the target of building chongming into a world-level eco-friendly island. the regulatory plan would be updated to strengthen regulation on building appearance so that the landscape, texture and ecology would be worthy of a world-level eco island. ecological planning, once completed following sound deliberation, must be implemented without transgression. relevant systems and regimes should be completed and optimised with cooperative effort from the municipality. the district must shoulder its due responsibility with supervision from municipal authorities and especially the expert committee. the plan, intended to be the bottom line, should represent a vigorous standard. following the plan, responsibilities would be defined and measured and rectification measures would be taken without delay. the government, enterprises and the public needed to have a bottom-line thinking and set the schedule for orderly implementation of rectification measures so that the vision of an eco-friendly island would be realised.
photo credit: chen zhengbao from xinmin evening news
