A sustainable path to prosperity

Chongqing - Chinese people have determined that an ecologically friendly civilization is necessary to build a high-quality life and enjoy further development since the Yangtze River Economic Belt accounts for half of the Chinese population and economic output.

Chongqing was named one of "the most polluted cities on the planet" by BBC years ago. It is part of the headwater's ecological barrier of the Yangtze River, meaning the environmental restoration outweighs everything. Take Guangyang Island for an example. Before 2016, a real estate project involving over 3 million square meters of land was once planned for it, threatening the natural landscape with devastation. The project was decisively stopped by Chongqing Municipal Government in 2017 and replaced with a transformative scenic project named "Core of the Yangtze beauty, land of the Chongqing ecology." Guangyang Island has more than 500 plants and over 90 percent vegetation coverage. Records indicate the island is home to 191 bird species and the winter destination of many other migrant birds. That is a typical case of ecological restoration in China.

Moreover, green development requires a low-carbon product mode and lifestyle, in which Chongqing is also a "Smart Manufacturing Powerhouse" and a "Renowned Smart City." Not only does big data technology increases production qualitatively and quantitatively, but it also makes industrial production more low-carbon. 15 green industrial parks and 171 green factories have been completed, and 72.5 percent of the new buildings are equipped with green technology. Chongqing has reduced energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16.1 percent within five years.

The ecological conditions in Chongqing are improving in the mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands. In the past decades, the city's forest coverage has increased by 2 percent annually, reaching 54.5 percent tentatively. The soil erosion area has decreased by 12.5 percent. With 1,145 kilometers of watercourse treated, the water quality of the Yangtze River outstands within the Chongqing region. Thanks to people's joint efforts, qualitative changes have taken place in Chongqing environmentally: in 2013, Only 206 days with good air quality were measured in Chongqing, accounting for 56 percent of the year. In 2021, the number rose to 326 days, accounting for 90 percent of the year, reducing the acid rain precipitation probability from 48 percent to 8 percent.