People plant trees at the foot of Lyuliang Mountain in Jishan county, Shanxi province. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

North China's Shanxi province has extended its eco-friendly economic transformation and comprehensively coordinated the management of its mountains, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands in recent years – in the process significantly enhancing its ecology and environment. 

The province has fine-tuned its institutional settings and laws and regulations, to coordinate its economic development and environmental protection. 

It drafted the "Plan for Ecological Protection and High-quality Development of the Yellow River Basin in Shanxi Province" and the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations of Shanxi Province". 

Furthermore, it has issued guidelines and regulations such as the "Measures of Shanxi Province on Closing Mountains and Prohibition of Pasturing Animals" and the "List of Responsibilities for Ecological Environment Protection in Shanxi Province". 

Students learn about the domestic sewage treatment process in Yuncheng. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Shanxi has also undertaken a variety of measures to control air, water and land pollution.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), 157 million metric tons of excess coal production capacity and 6.55 million tons of crude steel production capacity were shut down, while 4.36 million kilowatts of coal-fired power generation units and coke oven production capacity were shut down, greatly reducing air pollution caused by traditional energy industries. 

In the first quarter of the current year, six air pollutant indicators were refined. Four of these indicators, including one for PM2.5 – particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less – as well as indicators for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, topped year-on-year declines in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. 

In addition, over the past three years, the province has implemented 393 key provincial-level water pollution control projects and rectified the shortcomings of water environment infrastructure.

A view of the Fenhe River after water quality improvements [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

All urban sewage treatment plants in the province have completed their upgrading and transformation. In 2020, all the monitoring points in the Fenhe River basin reported water quality better than grade V – the lowest level in the grading system for surface water in China. 

As for land pollution control, Shanxi has completed a detailed investigation into the soil pollution status of its agricultural industrial land, established a supervision mechanism for the redevelopment and utilization of polluted land, and promoted the control and restoration of soil pollution.

In 2020, the safe utilization rate of polluted land in the province reached 100 percent.