The Binhu district in Wuxi is a national demonstration area for the development of an ecological civilization. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Binhu district in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, held a press conference to share its achievements in environmental development on Jan 8.

The district has won a series of honors for its efforts to develop into an ecological civilization. In 2020, it was listed as a national demonstration area for the development of an ecological civilization, and as early as December 2018, all towns, villages, and streets under its jurisdiction had been honored with such titles at the provincial level.

Over the past few years, Binhu district has developed more green industries, and the ratio of its primary, secondary, and tertiary industries has shifted from 1.2:57.5:41.3 at the end of 2016 to 0.4:38.1:61.5 in 2019.

It is also providing strong support for technological innovation and the development of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products. At the end of 2020, the output value of its hi-tech industry accounted for 70.6 percent of that of industries above designated size.

The layout of green belts in Binhu district has been optimized as well, and in 2020, its forest coverage rate reached 37.32 percent. It now has 35,987.5 hectares of wetland, including three provincial-level wetlands - Taihu Lake, Lihu National Wetland Park, and Changguangxi National Wetland Park. The protection rate of natural wetlands was 69.4 percent, ranking second in the city.

In addition, Binhu district has been performing well in water control. It has been developing a "river chief" water protection system, which, along with other successful practices, was reported by China Central Television in a special program.

The district's Changguangxi National Wetland Park, one of the first 10 Ecological Rivers and Lakes in Jiangsu, is considered by some to have the most beautiful water scenery in the province. The district also has three 5A-level scenic spots, including Lingshan Mountain, Turtle Head Isle, and the Wuxi Movie/TV Base, and five 4A-level ones such as the Plum Garden and Liyuan Garden, two national water parks, and two national wetland parks,

In 2019, Binhu reached national air quality specification level II, the first in Wuxi to do so, and its proportion of good air quality days increased 10 percentage points from 70.6 percent in 2017 to the current 80.6 percent. The region's ozone pollution has been effectively contained as well, and its water environment has been significantly improved. Of the district's 10 municipal-level waterways, nine have been graded level III.  

Song Chao, head of the Binhu bureau of the environment, said that the district will continue to carry out overall planning on pollution prevention in 2021 and work hard to manage rivers and lakes in a systematic way.

He added that the district aims to become a model of high-quality development while preserving its beautiful natural environment and will build a strong monitoring and control network at the industrial parks of Mashan, Hudai, and Liyuan, establish micro-air stations, introduce a water quality auto guard station system, improve its water quality early warning and monitoring system, and help local small and medium-sized enterprises solve their pollution control difficulties.