As China is seeing continuous improvements in domestic epidemic prevention and control, the world is still struggling in the combat with COVID-19. The grim anti-epidemic situation of a severe shortage of protective goods, such as masks, hits many countries. International Ecological Economic Association (IEEPA), as a first-class public organization, makes full use of its advantage and carried out public service activities “Love Around the World” in Japan.

The support from IEEPA, a Chinese social organization, includes two parts. The first part is sending free masks, which were donated by the lead organization of IEEPA, to the teachers and students from the University of Nagoya, while the second part involves organizing volunteers to issue free masks to Japanese people on the streets of Tokyo. Currently, they are exerting themselves to prepare the third batch of public welfare donation to teachers and students from ten Japanese universities, especially Chinese students.

Junyang Li, Acting vice president of IEEPA, pointed out that as a member of the global community, it is impossible for China to be separated from the world in this pandemic. With its international perspective, IEEPA hopes to gather the strength of China’s social forces to send love to Japanese people, in the meantime return Japan’s help to China at the beginning of the epidemic. He also stated that the strength could be used to enhance confidence and determination of the two peoples to fight the epidemic together. 

At the donor activities, donor representative Xuanni Chen, assistant director of Green Mine Environmental Protection Committee of IEEPA, said: "We two countries now need to deal with the challenges together to get through the difficulties hand in hand." She quoted: "A single spark can start a prairie fire." This is a spontaneous action of non-government forces that carries out the concept of “A Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. She also hopes to take this event as an opportunity to further promote the cooperation and development between China and Japan in the fields of ecological environmental protection, health, and safety after the epidemic.

The activities received positive and enthusiastic responses, as well as sincere gratitude from Japanese people, along with the hope of generations of friendship between China and Japan. Some people bought oolong tea from the convenience stores nearby to show their appreciation. 

The love-sharing action collected power from joint anti-epidemic efforts of non-governmental Chinese organization and Japanese Education Union, sending China’s warmth to the world and appealing to more non-governmental forces to stretch their power regardless of size to fight the virus and work for the destiny of mankind. Through non-governmental actions, we will deliver the spirit of humility, hard work, perseverance and friendship to all countries, and build a bridge of tolerance, connectivity and mutual trust between the people around the world.

IEEPA appeals to capable Chinese enterprises to take actions to promote sustainable development of human society and the ecosystem, to help victims of calamities, and to fight poverty and diseases. 

China Warms the World —— IEEPA's International Public Welfare Support Action in Japan

With China's efforts to tackle novel coronavirus' impact on its economy bearing fruit, more business cooperation between Serbia and China is in the pipeline, according to a Serbian official.

Milan Bacevic, Serbian ambassador to China, said efforts to facilitate business cooperation between the two countries are expected in the future. Bacevic said now is a good time for Chinese companies in the ecology sector to invest in Serbia, as the country has big demand for projects related to environmental protection and new energy.

Bacevic also said China's effective measures in controlling the epidemic and stemming the virus from spreading further, along with its efforts to send experts to other countries for support, have offered valuable experience and great lessons to the world.

Serbia firmly supports China's work in epidemic prevention and control, and is willing to offer further help, Bacevic added.

The remarks were made during a meeting between a delegate from the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia and the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association, a non-governmental organization in China aimed at promoting cooperation in ecology in global markets.

Li Junyang, specialized vice-president of IEEPA, said the association is willing to encourage and support member companies to cooperate with Serbian peers in technology and projects in the areas of ecology and environmental protection.

Li said sufficient funding, advanced technologies and sustainable business models are the keys for successful business cooperation in the areas of ecology, environmental protection and new energy. He added Chinese companies are concerned about stable income when cooperating with governments from overseas.

IEEPA-Serbia cooperation expected for near future

At present, all parts of the country are in a critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control war. Party and government organs and the people at all levels are working as one relentlessly, carrying forward the spirit of successive work, and sparing no efforts to contribute to the war of epidemic prevention and control.

In response to the call, social organizations have taken various forms to participate in the fight against the COVID-19. As a first-level social organization of the capital, The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) in Beijing has made full use of its advantages and vigorously promoted the action of each member unit’s own to carry out donation work for support; at the meanwhile,  IEEPA took the lead in launching the artistic propagation of international public welfare performance, constructing the action of "Sincerity Spread Worldwide -Fighting against the Epidemic, Being against Discrimination, and Supporting the People who Fight for Love", in the way that volunteers, scholars and foreign friends who care about supporting China's fight against the epidemic shot short videos of "Opposing Discrimination" to spread love, presenting the situation and confidence of China's pandemic prevention and control to the rest of world, and disseminating it widely on the Internet; at the same time, in order to further promote collective initiative and spontaneous action, the International Ecological Economic Association launched leading comrades, in-service, part-time staff to raise funds and donate with individual name, and the money would be mainly used to purchase donated materials in short supply to support Wuhan City and Yidu City in Hubei Province. At the same time, they also take proactive actions to support and participate in the grassroots epidemic prevention work in Beijing to promote the spirit of ecological humanism of Beijing, advocating the value behavior of "I am doing kindness first".

Leaders and staff including Hao Jiming, Peng Suping, Jiang Minglin, Hou Li'an, Li Junyang jointly raised nearly 300,000 yuan in personal donations, and took 500,000 yuan out from the "Eco-economic Special Public Welfare Fund" of the China Environmental Protection Foundation established by the Association in the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.  There is a total of more than 800,000 yuan's direct donations, respectively through the Beijing Red Cross, Wuhan Red Cross in Hubei Province, the epidemic prevention headquarters of the Yidu government, the China Environmental Protection Foundation, including a Ford  negative pressure special epidemic prevention ambulance car designated donated to Beijing epidemic prevention designated hospital's , 5 units of disinfection and sterilization ozone disinfection equipment donated to Yidu of Hubei Province, and 30 units of plasma disinfection fresh air system equipment  donated to Wuhan Tongji Hospital, 3000 3M Russian masks conforming to the European Union FFP2 standard and 1000 FFP1 standard masks from international channels an through efforts made by many parties, and 9,000 KN95 standard mask materials, 200 pairs of protective gloves, and 8560 bottles of portable disinfectant and no-cleansing liquids. For the epidemic prevention at the grassroots level in the capital, we have donated materials to the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Service Support Department and the police stations and traffic detachments of the Dongcheng Branch and Shunyi Branch. The portability of the targeted procurement of epidemic prevention materials is conducive to the distribution of individual soldiers in order to express thanks to their devotion to the safety of Beijing citizens, adhere to the epidemic situation on duty in the first line; also through the civil affairs system, donating materials to the Jinbao Street North Community Working Committee, Zhandong Community, Fengtai District Dongtiejiangying Street Community, Jianguomen Street, Dongcheng District; The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) also actively mobilized the deployment, guided the staff to take action, under the circumstances of making self-protection, they are encouraged to take the initiative to go to the grassroots, enter the community, support the front line of epidemic prevention work, and  make efforts to strengthen the key areas and weak links of the epidemic prevention and control of the community. 

On March 5, 2020, Li Junyang, the full-time vice president of the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) led the team and took the initiative to go to the grass-roots to directly participate in the frontline epidemic prevention and control work while carrying out the research and analysis of the grassroots community work. They put forward suggestions for optimizing the working methods to cadres of street offices and community, the person in charge of the territorial property and volunteers participating in the grassroots work on the spot.

The full-time deputy chairman Li Junyang participated in the grassroots duty while exchanging work experience with grassroots cadres. He said that Beijing, as the capital of the country, is currently facing huge pressures for the return of personnel ouside of Beijing, such as Beijing Railway Station, Capital Airport, High Speed Railway Station and other transportation hubs are key areas with continuous increase in human flow. When we are working at the grassroots level, we must first check and strictly implement the unified deployment requirements for epidemic prevention. At the same time, we must also emphasize the ecological and humanistic Beijing spirit; Beijing is building a "first kindness area", where no xenophobia should be allowed, no matter where the person comes from, business or temporary visitors are guests, people who work and live here are residents as well as citizens of Beijing; People who do not meet the entry and exit regulations should also be treated in an appropriate way, rather than just routed them out rudely ; humanization is the first crucial point of "first kindness", which is to let the people feel the meaning of Beijing's "first kindness", that is, relying on our grassroots staff, through each day and every moment in the work process, to better grasp and contact with every people, explaining policies as far as possible, specifying relevant measures and solutions, eliminating problems, in order to help them as much as possible, if they really can’t help after making efforts, they should be as concerned and warm as possible This is what everyone of us could do at the grassroots level, because each of us just want to shine like a "sparkling red star" at the grassroots level.

Acting Vice President Li Junyang emphasized that sometimes he watched the news and saw outsiders in Beijing who were stopped outside of the community gate for various reasons, especially those who had nowhere to go in the middle of the night, his heart felt very sad. Why can’t we take the initiative to take a step forward in our duties In addition, think of more methods and comparing your heart to their heart. It shows that our grassroots work still needs to be refined, and the responsibilities on our shoulders are also very great. Sometimes I don’t feel power in my hand, in fact, even there is only a little power in your hand, since faced with the mass of people, if it is improper used, they can also feel the trouble caused by this little power; even many of them have to travel around for life. So human nature must be taken into consideration, just treat these people as your relatives. While implementing strict measures, you also need to make them feel warm. Strictly performing duties and humanistic care, and humanistic measures and methods, are not contradictory to each other.

The secretary of the East Community Working Committee of Jianguomen Street Station in Dongcheng District and the community cadres on duty together appreciated the statement of Vice Chairman Li Junyang. They have a deep understanding of the complexity of grassroots work, and the grassroots work is closely related to the people. So they need to fulfill their responsibility with a sincere heart; at the same time, they thanked the Beijing International Ecological Economy Promotion Association for coming to the grassroots level, not only sending materials, but also exchanging work experience and optimizing work plans

The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) sent donated materials to the office area of the North Community Working Committee of Jinbao Street in Dongguo District, and exchanged the challenges and solutions for the work of grassroots communities with the Secretary of the Working Committee . It is stated that the current priority work is to play a role of the community’s grassroots in the epidemic prevention and control. We must respond immediately to any need of the community.

According to the schedule of the grassroots community on duty, the first batch of volunteers of the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) came in advance to the second community of Hengqitiao, Dongtiejiangying Street in Fengtai District to check and make sure that each person’s own protective materials configuration, including masks, Disposable hand-disinfection gels, gloves, shoe covers and other protective equipments are available. The leader of the association, vice president Li Junyang, told everyone to do their own protection, actively cooperate with the work of streets and communities, participate in the work in an orderly manner, and cooperate according to the process. Use scientific methods, and also be good at observing and learning some unique working methods of grassroots cadres, investigate and understand some of the problems reflected by the masses, in general guarantee to actively complete the community epidemic prevention tasks, participate in the fight against epidemic prevention in the capital, and establish an ecological and humanistic Beijing spirit in new era.

In term of the area of the second community of Hengqitiao in Dongtiejiangying Street, there are both commercial and residential houses, as well as mixed office and home, with frequent personnel exchanges, complex workers who restarted to work. They are interspersed by vehicle, pedestrians and resident, there are only greenbelts as segregations. In response to this complex situation, the Beijing International Ecological Economy Promotion Association's grassroots volunteers were divided into 2 groups, which controlled the 2 entrances and exits; the temperature measurement, the inspection of the pass card, the registration of the form, the key verification, and the unknown situations were transferred to the community and property person to handle, helping to distribute courier on site, ordering meals, delivering water, explaining the relevant policy requirements for rework and resumption, etc. Everyone cooperated in an orderly manner.

On the same day, the second batch of Beijing International Ecological Economy Promotion Association's staff who volunteered to support grassroots, and went to the Xiheyan community in Qianmen, Dashilan Street in Xicheng District, Beijing, carrying out shift duty. The third batch of staff are also ready to enrich the front-line forces and contributed to the victory of the epidemic prevention, control and blocking war with practical actions in the future according to the needs of the grass-roots communities.

The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) insists on the organization construction and development in the direction of "based on the capital, facing the world", which is a long-term and basic work. The work of social organizations needs to be accumulated over time, and it is even more necessary to play a proactive role at critical moments. When Beijing builds the role of "Capital of First Kindness", we want to carry forward the spirit of "The First Kindness" and create an ecological, humanistic and social environment, which is to inspire every subject to play a positive role; To look at the problem from the perspective of winning, it is also necessary to prevent from the origins and prevent the dangerous situation at the grassroots level, and play the main role of the people to examine and analyze the elements of social governance.

The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA), as the one and only capital organization with the banner of "International Ecology", is committed to improving the ecological environment and economic sustainability, promoting the national ecological governance system and social governance construction,  development of ecological cities and investment promotion, green consumption and market technology innovation, ecological culture inheritance and international trade, in order to build into an organization with professional, cross-industry and international development.

Promoting the Spirit of Ecological humanism in Beijing  International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) Supports the Front Line of Grassroots’ Epidemic Prevention Work

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee identified that bringing social organizations into full play enforces governance and social regulations through the positive interactions between residents and thus constitutes the foundation of grassroots social governance. China's social organizations have developed rapidly in recent years, in systems of national governance, and their status roles have been further enhanced and social organizations are now stepping into a new era of active participation in the modernization and development of social governance capabilities. Adhering to the leading role of party-building and promoting social organizations by actively and effectively participating in grassroots governance, to bring into full play the advantages of close bridges and ties between government and society, has already become important in guiding the development of communities. 

In order to actively respond to the appeals of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Beijing Municipal Government, bringing the power of the professional community into full play, participating in national governance systems and developing and modernizing governance capabilities, on the 4th January 2020, the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA hereafter) hosted the Expert Meeting on Ecological Governance and Released 2019-2020 Annual Report at the National People's Conference Center. 

Li Junyang, Executive Vice-President of the IEEPA, Senior Research Fellow at Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, Senior Research Fellow at Environment Science and Engineering Institute of Nankai University, Adjunct Professor at Hubei Academy of Governance chaired the meeting. 

Attendees included Zhai Yong, head of the law chamber of the Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the NPC; Yuan Jifu, Professor and Vice-President of the Beijing Administration Institute; Li Qingrui, Executive Vice-President of the China Ecological Civilization Research and Promotion Association, former Deputy Director of Policy and Regulation Department, Administrative System and Human Resources Department of Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection; Zhou Ke, Legal Consultant of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, IEEPA Standing Director, Professor at the Law School of Renmin University of China; Yang Hongshan, Professor and Deputy Dean of Public Administration School of the University of China; Li Wenzhao, Professor and Vice Dean at Beijing Academy of Development and Strategy of Renmin University of China; Jin Dongping, former Deputy Inspector of the National Development and Reform Commission Office, IEEPA Expert; Lin Jian, Researcher at the Center for Research on Social System Engineering, National Academy of Development and Strategy of Renmin University of China, Director of the Center for Research on Social System Engineering; Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the National Governance Weekly affiliated to the People's Daily. 

Li Junyang, Executive Vice-President of IEEPA firstly discussed the six aspects of the community's work results in the report: 

Firstly, IEEPA actively promoted national governance systems and progress in the modernization of governance capabilities, bringing into full play the role of communities working together in ecological governance, including going through the Hubei Academy of Governance to jointly carry out demonstrations projects that combine theory with practice, applying the “two mountains theory” to enhance the application of ecological poverty alleviation in Hubei Province, and adhering to party-building work for leadership. IEEPA, together with the Party Branch of the International Cooperation Center of National Development and Reform Commission, and the Party Branch of Urban Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, jointly promoted the establishment of ecological and human governance demonstration sites at the grassroots level in Beijing, creating the featured party-building brand, combining party-building work with professionalism, building party groups with ecological economic features, taking the party-building brand with its “red empowerment” culture as the leader, building comprehensive systems, branding, professionalizing the party-building brand, strengthening the establishment of programs of action, action planning, taking the lead in the investigation on ecological and human governance issues of the grassroots community in Konggang Street Community and Commercial Port in Beijing's Shunyi District. In 2020, all of the city's 152 street offices will be surveyed and covered at all levels. 

Secondly, by carrying on the strategy of "going out" and "bringing in", IEEPA developed a two-way international support system to support enterprise work platforms, an in-depth implementation of a “Beijing-based, internationally focused” development plan in order to actively bring the role of international exchange into full play. IEEPA acts as a bridge between the governmental and non-governmental organizations in every country, working together on ‘Belt and Road’, for Chinese enterprises overseas to provide membership services, relying on the resources of the IEEPA Group of Eminent Dignitaries the Committee of the World Economic and Environmental Conference to expand overseas markets. In order to bring in foreign enterprise, IEEPA provides two-way international platforms. Through the cooperation with China’s embassies in each country, foreign companies can actively enter the country to extend cooperative partnerships with the Chinese government and enterprise. IEEPA actively publicizes China's concept of ecological development and promotes the success of China's environmental governance and its ecological economic development on the international stage. 

Thirdly, IEEPA played its role as a social organization in assisting enterprises and providing in-depth research work for individual experts. IEEPA provided platforms with strategic and planning value to assist enterprise development, social resource provision, path analysis and case references. Combined with examples of enterprise in industrial development, IEEPA refined methods of innovative development and built a top-level design. IEEPA called on the government to enhance support for enterprise development and to provide support to companies when they are treated unfairly. IEEPA supported individual experts in supporting industry by providing conditions for the investigation and research of industry and social development. 

Fourthly, IEEPA linked theory with practices, actively contributed ideas to the top-level and became a professional high-end think tank for government social work, including the State Council and the China Academy of Engineering, Chinese Science Academicians and other relevant ministers and experts. For the Beijing Municipal Government, IEEPA made proposals for the foundation of grassroots party-building leadership and ecological and human governance demonstration points, built a new framework for ecological and human governance in Beijing, and provided suggestions on weak points in Beijing's ecological and human governance with the report entitled “how to build a livable and harmonious capital” IEEPA provided with Hubei Provincial People's Government the proposal titled "Practice of ‘Two Mountains’ Theory using Yidu city as an example". IEEPA also provided the Guangdong Provincial People's Government's proposal "On further optimizing the business environment in the ecological field, to enhance the ‘Double High’development of the ecological green mining environment and economic quality in Guangdong province". 

Fifthly, IEEPA integrated advantageous resources, conducted in-depth research on green mining, green building, green consumption and other professional fields, and built a demonstration system. By jointly working with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Ecological Restoration Centre affiliated to University of Mining and Technology(Beijing), IEEPA created the "Committee of Green Mining and Environmental Protection". IEEPA, together with China Environmental Protection Foundation (CEPF hereafter), also initiated the "CEPF Green Mining Fund of Ecological Economy". With China Railways 23rd Bureau as the leading unit, membership including China Railways' 26th Bureau, China Building Materials Group, IEEPA founded the “Committee of Green Building Industry". 

Sixthly, IEEPA brought into play the leading value and role of professional academic research results of the community and published our achievements. The Department of the Ecology and Environment and China Environmental Publishing Group published the "Book Series of National Green Mine's Eco-friendly and High-quality Development/Guidelines for Aggregate Industry Standard" by IEEPA. IEEPA simultaneously completed the "Structure and Operation Mechanism of Ecological Economy Management", "The Philosophical Thinking and Practice of the 'Two Mountains Theory'", "Extracts of Aggregate Industry Policy", "Energy Conservation Technology and Application of Aggregate Industry", "Extracts of Aggregate Industry Laws and Regulations", and "Practice of 'Two Mountains' Theory Using Yidu City as an Example". We will soon complete "Creating a New Pattern of the Ecological and Humanistic Governance of Beijing", "The Strategy of Social Organizations Serving the National Ecological and Environmental Governance", "Party-building Guideline and Standard of Chinese Social Organizations", and "Solutions on Organizational Capacity Building of Chinese Social Organizations". 

Researcher Li Junyang also addressed “Building a New Framework for Ecological and Humanistic Governance of Beijing. He clearly indicated that under the demands of the modernization of national systems of governance and governance capacities, there firstly needs to be in-depth analysis of social governance in the city including its ecological connotations, structures, and especially ideas concerned with the introduction of system engineering to build new frameworks for ecological and human governance in grassroots society. It is obliged to actively encourage support for social organizations so that they have the power to take the lead, bringing the spirit of "do my bit in bettering the national capital" into full play, adhering to party-building leadership, keeping in line with the grassroots, beginning developing the grassroots governance in the capital and constructing ecological and human demonstration points. It is important to bring the combined party-building and professionalism activities into play. In the grassroots communities we should establish the good community template targeting ecological-friendliness, harmony and goodwill, in order to demonstrate the leading social effects, substantially promote the standard of ecological governance, build and perfect the modernization of the capital's systems of ecological governance, apply scientific ideas, new technologies, new platforms, and promote urban governance to fine governance and co-governance. By applying the rule of legalism as a basic feature of the transformation of urban governance, we can guarantee high-quality scientific development and gradually form good urban ecological governance, building the foundation for Beijing to become an internationally-renowned city. 

Research Li Junyang focused on three proposals in the report: 

Firstly, the importance of grassroots governance. The importance of grassroots governance, from the grassroots governance of township boards right down to villages, neighborhoods and communities, is the foundation of the network of grassroots governance, the main body of responsibility for social governance. This is the masses' personal beneficial relationship intersection, where the focus of social conflict lies, the cornerstone of development and stability, and most importantly the focus of social construction and governance. The more policy is extended to the grassroots, the more its contents must be implemented, and the forms are more diverse, and the situation is more complicated and miles above the grassroots 'needle'. All the time this 'needle' is a practical test for cadres, to grasp reforms and the quality of their implementation, their capacity and standard. 

Secondly, party-building leadership provides a foundation for the grassroots, diligently supporting social forces so they can take the lead, bringing the spirit of 'do my bit in bettering the capital', adhering to party-building grassroots leadership, carrying out capital grassroots governance and building ecological and humanistic demonstration points, fully bringing the advantages of "party-building and professionalism" into full play, and construct a grassroots template and play a leading role in demonstration. All types of national governance policies, are frequently prone to change during this period, becoming the masses’ personal feeling of rapid policy transformation. The deformation of policy, not only substantially distorts the policy's original results, but increases the people's distrust in the government's work, but also damages the order of grassroots governance, and is also disadvantageous to the systems of grassroots governance and the modernization of theoretical capabilities, and is even more disadvantageous to the foundation of the frameworks for ecological and human governance, and also hinders the overall progress China's "ecological civilization". 

Thirdly, building the framework for ecological and human governance firstly requires supporting demonstration points to fully bring "party-building and professionalism" modes into play. Next, actively explore, combing top-down top-level with bottom-up grassroots governance. Lastly, substantially improve the efficiency of the operating mechanisms for grassroots governance, while simultaneously improving the authorization for the grassroots, putting supervision and accountability mechanisms in place, establish a retrospective system for the evaluation and implementation of the policies at the grassroots level, becoming the new framework for ecological and human governance in Beijing to address problems promptly. Director of the Bill Room of the National People's Congress Environmental and Resources Protection Committee Zhai Yong, firstly highly praised IEEPA's announcement of the results of the “Building a Framework for Ecological and Human Governance in Beijing”. He believes that social organizations are definitely able to play a greater role in national systems of governance and in the modernization of governance capacities. 

Zhai Yong also explained China's combined environmental governance and legal system construction. Environmental Governance and Legal System Construction, concerning pollution prevention in the legal system, legal systems for environmental systems, this part is more than less complete, but rarely pays attention to issues of resources efficiency and ecology and has no concept of strategic promotion. Besides, there is currently no specific law regarding ecosystems in China, and this area needs to be strengthened. In aspects of ecological governance, we are in the process of achieving our two one-hundred-year goals, and resource efficiency should be a priority, but the importance of this aspect has not received much attention in the past. Incorporating the comprehensive utilization of resources into network planning as a research project, changing our production methods, our lifestyle, to promote the quality of China's development and the important aspects of domestic standards. 

Professor Yuan Yifu pointed out that the features of “Building a New Framework for Ecological and Human Governance in Beijing” show that, systematic thinking, engineering ideas, research methods, made the research report very operational. Solving conflict between the grassroots and the environment, as well as internal conflicts in urban grassroots requires public intervention. This type of intervention is the Party's strength; therefore the party-building leadership must play the lead in matters of ecological governance. But does not mean that the party-building leadership is monopolizing or replacing important functions, because there are multiple levels of party-building leadership. Some issues can be solved by lower-level party-building leadership, while others cannot and must be resolved at a higher-level of party-building leadership. IEEPA functions as a social organization, specializing in scientific party-building ecological governance and support for system programs and implementation methods. Most notably, the "red empowerment" party-building brand culture created by IEEPA for ecological governance and to offer all sectors of society encouragement and support. 

Professor Yang Hongshan, Deputy Dean of the School of Public Management at the Renmin University of China believes that there needs to be an emphasis on building communities within grassroots social governance. The mechanisms for the building communities are a work in progress. In the Central Committee's opinion, this matter is being advanced under party-leadership, as well as at the grassroots level. The role of the community should be brought into full play, and the academic community should conduct in-depth research to make it not only a mobilization, but a sustainable operating mechanism. 

Professor Li Wenzhao pointed out that the professional strength must be seized at the grassroots level. For example, IEEPA's "Ecological Economy" is at the core of professionalism and resources and thus IEEPA must simultaneously focus on international community and exchange, communicate the successful practical experience of cities in related countries in ecological government and Beijing's ecological communities, and truly implement the "bring in" and "going out". 

Li Qingrui, believes that social organizations are the most important force in national systems of ecological governance and that IEEPA plays a both great and valuable role within ecological governance. Li looks forward to IEEPA continuing to play a leading role in the development of ecological and environmental protection as well as "ecological civilization". 

Zhou Ke pointed out that in the report, China's must identify shortcomings in the construction of ecological governance systems, perfect the entire system of governance, quickly act to remedy the shortcomings, and make the role of social organizations more prominent than other things in systems of ecological governance. Ecological and environmental issues are societal issues Zhou contends, and that the more management is extended to the grassroots level, the lower are its costs and the higher its efficiency. Also, raising the level of public awareness and increasing public participation in governance is ideal when resolving social issues. 

Jin Dongping believes that combining party-building work and social governance work is innovative work, but is difficult at the grassroots level; good ideas and policies change at the grassroots level, and also encounter unexpected barriers and obstacles, targeting the complexity of grassroots personnel, who think that solidified official thinking is 'not my business' and who are unwilling to actively accept social participation. That this attitude is still widespread indicates that further effort is required to coordinate the forces of all parties to ensure they work together. This may take a long time to resolve, so we must be mentally-prepared. 

Lin Jian believes that grassroots self-governance must grasp its focus to construct a new framework of grassroots social governance using a systematic engineering approach. Strengthening the construction of systems of community governance, advance social governance, moving the center down to the base, bringing the role of social organizations into full play, achieve government governance, social mediation, resident autonomy and good interactions. Party committee leadership is the prerequisite, government responsibility is the key, democratic consultation is the mechanism, social collaboration is the means, public participation is the principal part, the rule of law is the strength, technology support is the condition, in every way participation and determination can form a new framework of social government that is both constructed together and governed together. 

IEEPA Hosts Expert Meeting on Ecological Governance and Releases 2019 Annual Report

On December 28 2019 the Conference on Ecological and Social Governance of Beijing  was held in the Yifu Buildings, Renmin University of China. The conference was sponsored by the Beijing International Ecological Economic Promotion Association (IEEPA) and co-organized by the Beijing Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China (hereafter referred to as RUC BADS) and the Center for Research on Social System Engineering, National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China (hereafter referred to as RUC NADS).

, Director of the Research Center for Party Building Studies affiliated to the Organization Department of Beijing City Committee of the CPC; 

, Professor and Dean, Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University; 

, Researcher at the RUC BADS, Professor, School of Marxism Studies; 

, Professor, National Academy of Governance; 

, Director of the Capital Institute of Public Security Comprehensive Administration, Beijing Academy of Social Science; 

, Associate Professor, Beijing Administration Institute; 

, Head of Publicity Department, China Railway Construction Engineering Group.

, Executive Vice-President of the IEEPA, Senior Research Fellow at Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, Senior Research Fellow at Environment Science and Engineering Institute of Nankai University, chaired the meeting and explained the report's purpose. The report provides an in-depth understanding of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Party Central Committee's focus on the development of national ecological governance systems and implementation against the background of the "Governance of China's" 13 principles; how to promote the development of ecological social governance and address the imperative question of how national forms of social governance should progress; usher in a new era of "party-building + professionalism" modes, jointly creating the "red empowerment" party-building brand, leading a new type of ecological humanistic grass-roots governance, facing new challenges and opportunities.

Researcher Li Junyang emphasized that the modernization of national systems of governance and governance capacities firstly requires an in-depth analysis of the ecological connotations and structures of urban governance at a grassroots level. The introduction of systematic engineering ideas to build new forms of ecological and humanities governance at the grassroots level is especially important. Actively encouraging and supporting societal forces to take leadership to give full play to the spirit of "do my bit in bettering the national capital", adhering to the party's leadership and sticking to the grassroots, and carrying out the construction of the capital's ecological and humane demonstration are also all top priorities. Li Junyang also emphasized the need to give full play to the advantages of combining party building and professionalism and setting up the "ecological, harmonious, humanistic, unsurpassed, and liveable" model in grassroots communities to demonstrate the effects of societal leadership and the need to work together to promote the development of a law-abiding, promising, shared government in Beijing. Creating a capital with new forms of social governance that are built together, governed together and shared to create a first-class, internationally-acclaimed, harmonious and livable capital.

Li Junyang pointed out that analyzing the strengths of grassroots governance will stimulate the vitality of grassroots governance, consolidate the strength of grassroots governance, and capture the development of grassroots governance models. For example, when addressing governance issues in city management and community safety, we must focus on the development of smart platforms. To address the issue of the weak links in the business environment we must develop a one-stop, cross-department, multi-sector sharing consultation and docking mechanism. To improve quality issues for residents, we must focus on the construction of civilized practices. To respond to the problems handed down by history and difficulties faced by ordinary people and other difficult questions, we must focus on the development of linkage mechanisms to carry out comprehensive governance, integrate multiple plans, coordinate multi-dimensional development demands, implement policies and plans, and connect all regions with an overall plan. Social organizations should be encouraged to participate in grassroots governance through the party-building model while the government creates a social evaluation system to gauge the effectiveness of street office work. The key to assessing the effectiveness of policy implementation is to actively collect feedback from grassroots activists and ensure that policy implementation is conducted in a timely manner.

Wang Daguang, Director of the Party Construction Research Institute of the Organization Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee believes that IEEPA's "National Ecological System and Grassroots Social Governance in the Capital Report" can be used to inform wider society about the ways in which social groups can strengthen the influence of government decision-making. This is particularly evident in Beijing, where "Regulations on Street Offices", “Regulations on Property Management” and “Regulations on Waste Classification”, have been combined with "Grassroots Ecological and Human Governance" demonstrating how the party can lead and produce better results. 

Sun Tao pointed out that IEEPA’s report can learn from business environment indicators, and can consider putting forward "business community indicators", which are indicators of social construction, can construct a good atmosphere and allow social contradictions and social conflicts to be resolved earlier. In particular, we will evaluate and develop a fantastic business community environmental index for ecological livability, including green governance, green consumption, and green travel.

Zhang Yunfei believes that people must be placed at the centre of country's governing activities and that social system engineering methods need to be used to explore methods for grassroots governance. In addition to party building and leadership, grassroots governance activities must also be performed by labor unions, the Communist Youth League, the Women’s Federation and other organizations.

Chen Anguo pointed out, that IEEPA's first proposal of the flagship party-building activity under the banner of "red empowerment", shows cutting-edge leadership in how it gives full play to the benefits of party leadership and in how it actively explores "party-building and professionalism" modes. The "red empowerment" party-building activity has also been a source of innovation in ecological humanistic communities, campuses, science spots and shopping malls. Governance in Beijing, like in every city, has both advantages and disadvantages. For Beijing, the advantage lies in its political control, its big data and intelligence. Given its strong foundation, Beijing is experienced in every aspect of governance concerning party-building grassroots work.

Li Wenzhao believes that it is necessary to focus on what gives communities ecological and humanistic characteristics and how this can be realized through grassroots governance. The overarching top-down design requires a tailored operational design and plan in each community. Firstly, resource mapping and diagnosing is required, and then some guidelines for a plan of action.

Yuan Zhenlong pointed out that that the research results of IEEPA's report need to summarized to identify the existing grassroots work situation, what they have achieved so far, their shortcomings as well as the problems and difficulties encountered, and then put forward a plan for further advancement that is more specific as to how grassroots operations can be implemented.

Huang Xiaofang, an associate professor of the Party School of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee pointed out that IEEPA's "red empowerment" party-building activity can, at the grassroots level, be combined with the party-building demonstrations of Party School of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee in Shunyi District and learn experiences from all parts of the country. For example, the experience in Fenqiao, Zhejiang should be connected to actual experience at the grassroots level. We should pay attention to promotion of voluntary services in the processes of social governance.

Dai Rongli pointed out that while the party is in charge of everything, it cannot do everything. Thus, the roles of party leadership and business must be combined when giving fully play to grassroots organizations. It is particularly important for community groups and not-for-profits to factor ordinary people in to the equation when it comes to the co-governance and building of grassroots organizations.

In recent years, Beijing has continued to optimize the business environment. This has been achieved by placing residents at the centre, and using the impact on people and commerce as the sole criterion to measure the efficacy of the reforms. In the reforms, the initiative to adopt an empathetic approach was taken to focus on the user experience and support innovative policies. This approach achieved many positive results. Most significantly, the World Bank's "2020 Business Environment Report" noted that China's business environment experienced drastic improvements. China now ranks 31st in the world, moving up 15 places within the space of a single year. Beijing, as a sample city in the report, for a second year in a row gained an additional 4.6 points, rising to a total of 78.2 and outperforming a number of EU and OECD economies.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, issued a "combination box" for social governance. This is aimed at fine-tuning services at the grassroots level. For example, The "Beijing Property Management Regulations (Draft)" took the livelihood of communities into account and are open to suggestions. Additionally, the implementation of the "Beijing Sub-district Office Regulations" clarified the rights and responsibilities of the streets, while community governance became further refined and streets now have greater power. On the other hand, with more power delegated to sub-district offices, major attention should be drawn to the impartial exertion of authority and the proper implementation of policy. Giving effect to the principles of being "law-abiding, promising and sharing" and establishing a community based on "co-construction, co-governance and sharing" must be done at the grassroots level. To give full play to the role of the new mechanism, it is necessary to increase the participation of the public, communities, and residents in social governance and brainstorming. 

Recently, researchers from the IEEPA and news media personnel visited several communities in the Shunyi District to carry out investigations on the ecological and human governance issues of grassroots communities. During the research, community residents voiced their concerns on governance issues.  For example, community environmental issues should be supervised by neighborhood committees. However, in reality it is difficult for neighborhood committees to simultaneously supervise and be responsible for the implementation of land management measures. It is not clear whether neighborhood committees can play a governmental role. For example, many neighborhood residents are reluctant to voice their opinion when the neighborhood committee's work is unsatisfactory. Residents fear that they may offend the neighborhood committee and be subject to retaliatory measures, such as being forced to move elsewhere. Many residents emphasized the need for a platform that would allow members of the public to evaluate a number of government services. By allowing members of the public to evaluate the performance of neighborhood committees, street offices, communities, and the quality of the living environment (the results of which will be made public), we can more adequately respond to the needs of local residents. The response to the 12345 hotline has been very positive. Regardless of whether or not the issue can be solved, those who call in to report an issue will receive a response. In instances when the problem can be addressed, callers will be given a rough time frame during which the issue will be resolved. The relevant department will also be notified of the resident's issue. In regard to measuring the rate of satisfaction, the evaluation data should be proportionate to the issue's significance. Additionally, there are still differences in the humanistic qualities between urban and suburban areas in Beijing such as salutations by the traffic police in the downtown area. The difference in law enforcement standards in the different areas of Beijing is still too great. However, despite these differences, Beijing is Beijing, and there are more similarities than differences. 

Lin Jian, Researcher at RUC NADS, Director  of the Center for Research on Social System Engineering introduced the contents of the research report, and pointed out that grassroots are the most basic units in social systems. This is the case for streets, communities, villages, enterprises and institutions, schools, shopping malls, hospitals etc. Grassroots represent the streets and communities and are directly related to people's daily work and lives and provide a solid foundation for social governance. The key to governance lies in the grassroots. National governance requires top-level design, but it is also crucial that mid-level and grassroots governance be continually maintained. Grassroots carry substantial weight in national and social governance and constitute the most basic unit in social governance. It is necessary to explore new patterns of grassroots governance with a systematic engineering approach according to law, source and comprehensive governance. Grass-roots social governance requires multi-sector coordination, multi-force convergence, and multi-measure resolution. Governance involves overarching economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization goals to assist the overall development of the people. Social system engineering is an effective method and tool for strengthening social governance and innovation. It focuses on system governance and provides a system-wide view, with people being the core subject. It is necessary to pay attention to the entire process of grassroots governance and the law of evolution and provide methods and technical means of control, regulation and self-regulation to ensure social stability, coordination and healthy development.

IEEPA's "Report on National Ecological System and Grassroots Social Governance of Beijing" states that it is necessary to firmly grasp the main line of strengthening the party's governing capacity, advanced nature, and purity building, and continuously improve the party's ability to lead in economic and social development. Emphasizing the use of “red empowerment” for the party-building banner, starting the selection of target samples, conducting social organization surveys and party-building grassroots activities, making each grassroots party organization a strong battle fortress. To play a leading role in party building, party members' cadre pioneers should take the lead. Leadership of the party committee is the prerequisite; government accountability is the key; democratic consultation is the mechanism; social coordination is the means; public participation is the main body; the protection of the rule of law is the need; scientific and technological support is the condition; cultural cohesion is the soul; with the multi-party participation and concerted efforts we can draw a new pattern of ecological governance based on "co-construction, co-governance, and sharing".

Regarding the status quo problems and challenges of the "rule at the grassroots level" in China, Professor Ren Yong, Deputy Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Management of East China University of Political Science and Law, published "Policy of the State at the Grassroots Level"at the People's Daily. The article also clearly states that the more policy is extended to the grassroots level, the more diverse and complicated policy implementation becomes. For example, reducing the negative effects of policy distortion, tests the ability and standard of grassroots cadres and officers to start businesses, forcing them to pay close attention to the implementation of policy reforms. We must urgently face the various emerging policy distortions in the current grassroots governance process. 

On the one hand, this phenomenon hinders policy effects from arising and disrupts the normal governance order. On the other hand, it weakens the authority of grassroots law enforcement and is not conducive to the grassroots governance and the modernization of theoretical capabilities.

The absence of an accountability mechanism for the supervision and implementation of policies is one of the most significant factors for policy distortion at the grassroots level. Some grassroots cadres use their unique role in grassroots governance to make use of asymmetrical policy information and take advantage of policy distortions to perform illegal activities that maximize their personal interests. In some places, selective implementation is carried out, and policies are adjusted according to the personal interests of those carrying it out. Additive implementation adds something that is not in the original policy and is often done for the benefit of a region, a department or even small groups. In these instances, the ill-directed philosophy of "seek not to be meritorious, but only to avoid blame" is in the air. Also in some places, grassroots governance does not have a clear evaluation mechanism or reward and punishment system for policy implementation. The results of policy promotion thus depends on the evaluation of the policy by the top leadership. Due to this, it is necessary to further improve evaluation systems for policy implementation and standardize supervision and accountability mechanisms. To put an end to "does not matter whether it been done well or poorly, as long as it is what the leader says" organizational mentality. To improve the efficacy of grassroots governance, non-compliance must be stopped, the law must be enforced and the credibility of government and public servants needs to be bolstered. 

The rectification of the "policy distortions" in grassroots governance must be linked to grassroots governance modernization. Additionally, operations must be standardized, social vitality and creativity maximized, policy-execution capital cultivated and a better environment for policy implementation must be established to achieve more effective grassroots governance. 

The conclusion of IEEPA's"Report on National Ecological System and Grassroots Social Governance of Beijing" identified that to construct good ecological and social governance is to build a solid foundation for a new pattern of social governance in Beijing, one based on "co-construction, co-governance, and sharing" to accumulate ecological humanistic wealth and move toward the era of ecological civilization.

Ecological and Social Governance of Beijing Meeting Report

Conference on Ecological and Social Governance of Beijing held by IEEPA – Constructing Grassroots Governance in Beijing

Social organizations are supported to mobilize their efforts by using their ingenuity to achieve greater success in the construction of Beijing and help fulfill the initiative "A Livable and Harmonious City: Building a Better Beijing.", in order to positively give full play to the guiding spirit of social organizations in social affairs and public services, further promoting the transformation of government functions, innovative social governance and optimization of public services to meet the needs of the people, and to enhance their sense of access and well-being, which is called upon by the Party Central Committee, the State Council, the Beijing Municipal Committee and the municipal government. 

On December 1, 2019, organized by the International Ecological Economic Association (IEEPA) and with the support of the Institute of Urban Planning and Design of the Ministry of Housing and Construction and the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, the “Science Diplomacy Symposium On Ecological, Cultural and Environmental Governance of Beijing” was held at the Conference Center of National People's Congress. In attendance were the State Council Counselor 

, Former Deputy-director of State Council Advisory Office; 

, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering; 

, Director of the Environmental and Resources Committee Bill Office of National People’s Congress; 

, Deputy-director of Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection of National Development and Reform Commission; 

, Vice-president and Deputy Secretary of CPC Committee, China Academy of Urban Planning and Design of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development; and 

, Executive Deputy-director of Beijing Association for Business and Service of CPC Central Committee. 

Furthermore, the Symposium was also attended by 

, Deputy Head of Mission, Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Ethiopian Embassy; 

, Counselor for Sustainable Development at Regional Economic Department of the French Embassy; 

, Economic Counselor of the Turkish Embassy; 

, First Counselor and Economic Counselor of the Serbian Embassy, and 

, Executive Vice President and Secretary General of IEEPA, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, Senior Research Fellow at the Environment Science and Engineering Institute of Nankai University, Adjunct Professor of Hubei Academy of Governance.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the development of the capital, putting forward new requirements for its development, especially the strengthening of the core functional orientation of the "four centers" and carrying out the strategy of a more humanistic, scientifically and technologically innovative and environmentally-friendly Beijing. As the capital city of China, Beijing is undergoing a profound transformation in its development. After unremitting efforts in recent years, the vision of building an international first-class "harmonious and livable capital" has achieved better-than-expected results, in particular establishing the need of enterprises and individuals as the sole standard of measuring achievement, which provides a solid foundation of constructing an international "harmonious and livable capital", on the perspectives of responsibility and accountability.

Attendant experts pointed out that in general the improvement of the capital's ecological environment, such as the annual blue sky indicators, are showing great improvement, while in some urban neighborhoods, the ecological civilization construction has been poorly and disorderly dealt with. In comparison to other international first-class metropolises, especially with regard to ecological human environment management, there is still a gap in the construction of the capital, particularly reflected in residential areas in the suburbs of the county grass-roots.

In response to the aforementioned problems, Mr. Li Junyang made it clear that IEEPA as a social organization should take the initiative to strengthen the Party-building leadership, engage in platform-building, the integration of resources, professional services, social work and other values, as well as to promote social organizations to play a more important role in grass-roots governance, in order to build an effective development path and to play a positive and effective role in the construction of the capital.

During his speech, Mr. Genet Teshome Jirru expressed agreement with attendant experts regarding the need to make cities both productive and conducive to the wellbeing of resident, particularly as a number of issues discussed are related to the Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Jirru spoke of his home country of Ethiopia which has seen rapid double-digit economic growth over the last 15 years, which although beneficial, has brought with it issues of planning and environmental management, particularly due to urbanization and pollution. He gave the example of a city in Ethiopia, which due to a rapid increase in garbage at landfills, cost more than 140 people their lives due to a landslide. However, cooperation with Chinese and Singaporean enterprise has turned a waste plant that is set to receive up to 80% of household waste into a facility that generates energy and biogas which can be used by residents. Mr. Jirru states that such an example could be replicated in other cities and similar approaches reproduced in other African countries.

Mr Jean-Philippe Dufour pointed out that developing circular economy means managing waste in an efficient manner, but also developing recycling activities and reducing the total quantity of waste. Developing nature in the city is a tool to protect biodiversity and to adapt to climate change. In short,  in order to promote a development pattern which contributes to economic prosperity, social welfare and  environment, the main practical and effective ways are first, to promote green and low carbon development pathways (in energy, industrial, agricultural and utilities activities); second, to develop eco-friendly cities and nature-based solutions; and finally, to protect ecosystems and to restore the degraded ones.

In his intervention, Mr Dufour also spoke highly of IEEPA for initiating and organizing the symposium. " It is welcoming that China is exerting great efforts on promoting the development of livable, green and smart cities from the governmental (national, provincial and municipal level) and non-governmental sphere," he added. 

Mr Liu Zhiren offered three pieces of suggestions. First, it is hoped that Beijing Municipal Government purify the city and better develop the soft environment. The construction of soft environment should follow up while developing the hardware facilities. Second, it is suggested that Beijing sort out the relationship between the protection of ecological system and development of agriculture and rural economy. It is of vital importance to balance the tie amongst the environment protection, the rural population and the economic development in rural areas.  Third, the leading role of setting up exemplary counties should be given full play to. He specifically referred to the advanced governing experience of Guajiayu County of Dahuashan Town in Pinggu District of Beijing. 

Mr. Li Junyang put forward that by adhering to the party-building leadership as the direction, the community's own professional advantages can become an important grasping hand in party-building work, by actively participating in economic and social activities, continuously innovating in methods of work, and complementing governmental affairs. For the promotion of high-level operations, high-quality developments, as well as the courage to take initiative and achieve social value, Mr. Li Junyang suggested five points. 

First, under the leadership of the party-building work, social organizations should not be afraid to encounter problems, or fall into the vicious circle of insufficient funds. Organizations should constantly serve to the public, seek the opportunities to give suggestions to the government to optimize their objectives, in order to gain resources and financial support. To do so, social organizations should make great efforts to enhance their own mechanisms and systems through the support of law firms, audit firms and other third-party professional services. 

Second, the implementation of day-to-day management, self-construction, business development, membership services, social work and other organic integration, especially with regard to issues of discipline, should be a task for relevant Party departments. This will allow social organizations to do business in a secure environment, with the government intervening in affairs when necessary and providing their support. 

Third, for the party to integrate social resources, the social organization should be seen as a platform, with party-building work as the “flag” of the platform by providing direction for social work and giving full play to the integration of social organizations and grassroots party organizations, with the party using its resources to build bridges, channels and ties to assist enterprise. This could be done through the establishment of professional resources for all involved parties to grasp the interconnected working methods within and outside the system, through the maximization of the integration of social organization forces and the opportunity to obtain the work advantages and resources through social work

Fourth, there is still room for improvement and functional transformation in the current government system to solve problems, such as the absence of responsibility, dislocation, overstepping and the highlighted inefficiency problems. It is the role of the government to lead and direct the role of social organizations. In a flexible and mobile approach of socialization and marketization, it is necessary for all parties to work together to solve the problems of imperfect market systems, excessive government intervention and inadequate supervision – especially in the field of public services – by engaging horizontally with grass-roots government departments and establishing links through party-building. Methods to help support and response to surveys and suggestions with regard to people's livelihood allows for the opportunity to work together for a higher quality, more efficient, fairer and a more sustainably healthy social development.

Fifth, in view of the accelerated process of China's construction of an ecological civilization, several things need to be adhered to: the implementation of green development and the construction of China's ecological civilization goal which is the development direction of the whole society. Social organizations should establish a top-level design plan for this purpose to promote and prioritize the construction and development of social ecological civilization in a professional way. On the other hand, social organizations should combine its own characteristics and resource strength, set up a long-term mechanism to continue to participate in and promote the urban governments at all levels, as well as engage enterprises, communities, and media to cooperate, for establishing the models and projects focused on ecological civilization.

The Symposium, with “Ecological, Cultural and Environmental Governance of Beijing” as the thematic subject, and “A Livable and Harmonious City: Building a Better Beijing” as the main topic, discussed and analyzed the following four issues and put forward recommendations. The issues discussed were as follows: first, from the international perspective, issues regarding the cultural and environmental governance. Second, from the policy perspective, issues analysing the guarantee of building a livable and harmonious Beijing. Third, from the cultural perspective, the necessity to construct a local government with the characteristics of law, efficiency and sharing. Finally, from the perspective of residents, the sense of access regarding residential areas were shared under the framework of constructing a national ecological civilization, including pointing out problems and give advice to “grassroots” governmental departments such as at the municipality and sub-district office-level, police stations, urban management offices, neighborhood committees and property management. 

Also announced at the meeting was that IEEPA of the Communist Party of China will choose Beijing Shunyi District Airport and Tianyu District and as the first sample area of the party building work. Additionally it will actively carry out social organization surveys and grass-roots activities under the party-building policy. Since recognizing that publicity, investigation and research is an important function of community organizations, this time, more will be done to focus on the investigation of ecological human environment governance, the business environment and the current situation of the international community, as well as the existing problems and obstacles in reality. At last, IEEPA will make recommendations and opinions, form a report, and present it to the Beijing Municipal Committee for advice.

The scope of planning for the International Talent Community Planning Site in the southwest of Shunyi aims to build and create an environment and community for international talent through a “five towns, one street, two parks” layout.  Konggang Avenue, Tianzhu Town, Houshayu Town, Nanfaxin Town, Gaoliying Town, and Liqiao Town. This area is the external gateway to Beijing’s political, economic, cultural and other international exchanges, and houses two high-quality ecological resources in the Roman Lake and Wenyu River among high-standard international living communities.

Science Diplomacy Symposium On Ecological, Cultural and Environmental Governance of Beijing held at the Conference Center of the National People's Congress

On November 20, 2019, Mr Li Junyang, IEEPA Vice-President, and Mr Liu Jianmin, IEEPA expert and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Clean and Efficient Coal-fired Power Generation and Pollutant Control, visited Xuzhou Combustion Control Research Institute (Hereafter referred to as “XCC”). The senior leadership and technical staff of XCC accompanied the visitors.

The team of experts visited the production plants No.1-No.4 and experimental  centers. The relevant technical staff of XCC detailed their products, combustion control technique, and manufacturing processes, with the two sides discussing how combustion can be more complete with a higher efficiency.

The group then visited the central control room and observed the main experimental equipment ofXCC. The test center has the largest combustion test platform in Asia, which can be used for ignition and steady-state combustion testing of oil, gas, coal and other fuels. Technicians explained in detail the mechanisms of low-nitrogen combustion, organic exhaust treatment, flare stack system, double-strong micro-oil ignition, plasma non-oil ignition, high alkali coal and other technologies.

At the symposium, the leaders of XCC gave details of the company's development process, market positioning and future development strategy. Technicians also detailed garbage power and uses of the clean energy.

Mr Liu Jianmin pointed out that China’s ecological environment has undergone profound changes, yet waste disposal is still an important task in the ecological sector of environmental protection, because if landfills are used as the main method of treating waste, this will not only waste land resources but also cause groundwater pollution. Further, the garbage power industry has reached a new level. China currently has 30% to 40% of household waste that can be used to generate electricity, and for XCC, the task is not to only make waste power generation “green”, but it is also an opportunity to sell outputs, engage in systematic construction, and the opportunity to seize the market, all forming a virtuous cycle. 

Mr Li Junyang pointed out that the development of the eco-economy is a major trend and that garbage power in line with the economic and environmental protection requirements, government support and enterprise determination, is indispensable for continued growth. At the same time, China’s waste incineration power industry is rapidly developing. However, lack of funds in the early stages of enterprise, dysfunctional operation, low-cost bidding and other issues are gradually exposed. Furthermore, subsidies face the problem of decline and so therefore begin to restrict the development of the industry. The government should support enterprises such as XCC, so that it can form a good momentum of development and turn enterprise disadvantages into an advantage.

IEEPA Experts Conducting Field Research at Xuzhou Combustion Control Research Institute

On 21 September, 2019, the 2019 World Economic and Environmental Congress (WEC) Roundtable was held in Beijing, jointly organized by the International Eco-Economic Association (IEEPA), the Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tsinghua University, and the Organizing Committee of the World Economic and Environmental Congress (WEC).

In attendance were Mr. Liu Xiaofeng, Vice-chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice-president of the General Assembly; Matteo Renzi, former prime minister of Italy and general secretary of the Democratic Party; Mariano Rajoy Brey, former prime minister of Spain and incumbent member of the House of Representatives; Cedric Thomas Frolick, Senior Foreign Minister of the Council of the International Eco-Economic Association and First President of the South African National Assembly and others Chinese and foreign dignitaries and scholars.

The improvement of China's ecological environment is an important cornerstone of high-quality economic development in the future. China celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China this year, which delivered fundamental changes in the Chinese socio-economic system, the acceleration of industrial development, and the advancement of production and positive lifestyle changes, all of which will continue to be the common vision for next 30 years when the People’s Republic of China reaches its 100-year milestone.

A series of speeches were delivered in the first-half of the conference, with the roundtable discussion held in the second-half so that international guests, government officials, experts and scholars, entrepreneurs and other representatives were given the opportunity to discuss current hot-topic issues, to express their respective academic views, and exchange suggestions on high-quality development in the ecological environment and economic sector. The next World Economic and Environmental Conference is planned to take place in 2020.

In his speech, Dr. Hao Jiming, WEC Executive Chairman and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of the International Eco-Economic Association (IEEPA), noted that in recent years, the process of China's ecological civilization has accelerated, the economic structure has undergone profound changes, society has moved towards a high-quality stage of development, and that China is advancing into a new era. In entering this new era, the transformation of the main contradictions in Chinese society reflect the characteristics of a new stage in Chinese social development. Although some achievements have been made, it also important to recognize that there are still many shortcomings, such as in economic construction, the ecological environment and in social development, yet it is still necessary to continue with firm direction, and to work hard in developing the country. With regard to the economy, there are still contradictions, such as those between market regulation and macro-control, between distribution equity and economic efficiency, and contradictions between economic development and improving people's livelihood. In the social area, contradictions still exist between social stability and deepening reform, between the moral and corrupt, and the process between emancipating the mind and unifying the will. Related to the long-term development of the country and the interests of the vast majority of the people, environmentalism and economic construction must be entwined, with existing national conditions, social and economic development existing in harmony. Social organizations, scientific research institutions, enterprises and other social parties, in addition to government at all levels, all have a long way to go.

Mr Li Junyang, Vice-president and Secretary-general of IEEPA, noted that in marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China, and additionally after the 18th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, China has established a new development system to lead the construction of a modern economic system: the adhering to green development with ecological priority as the main motivation. Leading the transformation and development of extensive industry through technological innovation, a good job has been done in upgrading ecological and economic industry. He notes that the government needs to make further efforts to build a good business environment, not only giving entrepreneurs more room for innovation and entrepreneurship, but also engaging with entrepreneurs to assist in solving systematic problems.

Mr Matteo Renzi, vice-president of the Congress, former prime minister of Italy and general-secretary of the Italian Democratic Party, said that both China and Italy are the main promoters of the Paris Climate Agreement, yet there is still a lot of work to do together. He believes that the improvement of education, ecology and the environment are priorities, but the globalization of ideas is also needed.

Vice-president of the General Assembly and a former prime minister of Spain (and now a member of the House of Representatives), Mr Mariano Rajoy Brey in his address stated that sustainable development is the coordination of economic, social and environmental development. Among them, the environmental problems brought about by industrial and economic development are particularly prominent, and how to promote and avoid the negative consequences is one of the keys to achieving sustainable development. He believes that the first steps to take are to increase corporate social responsibility, and be a good example. He says that that the secondary steps to take are to promote the circular economy. Thirdly, from the individual-level to the national-level, all should contribute to the reduction in emissions. Lastly, he states that enterprises and research institutions must work together and attach particular importance to scientific research, the promotion of improved industrialization, as well as promoting sustainable development.

Mr. Cedric Thomas Frolick, vice-president of the General Assembly, Senior Counsellor for Foreign Affairs of the Council of the International Eco-Economic Association and First Chair of the South African National Assembly, said in his address that the latest World Bank report showed that South Africa was one of the most unequal countries in the world. South Africa is facing many challenges, such as the urgent problem of the gap between the rich and the poor. He says that he hopes to learn from China's unique high-quality people-oriented development model to solve the problem of South Africa's uneven development.

Mr Li Junru, former vice-chancellor of the CPC Central Committee School, said in his address that Mr Xi Jinping's new era of ecological civilization construction put forward the important concept of the “life community”, or the need to properly handle the problem of the relationship between economic development and ecological environment protection, stating that firmly establishing the protection of the ecological environment is to protect productive forces. To promote the green development way-of-life, Mr Li Junru notes that we must embrace traditional ideas and customs, to further emancipate the mind, challenge ideas, promote the formation of green development and production, but also eradicate many outdated systems, as well as further strengthen reform efforts. In order to provide a reliable guarantee for the construction of ecological civilization and to promote the formation of a green development way-of-life, the most stringent systems and rules of law must be implemented.

The roundtable of the Academic Bureau released the International Eco-Economic Association’s “2020 Silk Road Along the International Conference on Ecological Literature Brigade”. Additionally, Executive Chairman Dr. Hao Jiming, former prime minister of Italy Mr. Matteo Renzi, and former prime minister of Spain Mr. Mariano Rajoy Brey jointly issued the list of the World Economic and Environment Conference Academic Member certificate. 

Also present at the meeting were H.E. Mr. Lila Mani Paudyal, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,; Mr. Giuseppe Fedele, Chargéd'affaires of the Italian Embassy in China,  Ms. Irena Skardžiuvienė , Chargée d'affaires of the Lithuanian Embassy in China; Mr. Liu Zhiren, State Council Counselor; Mr. Zhang Hongtao, State Council Counselor; Dr. Peng Suping, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Deputy Chief of State Work Safety Technology Expert Team; Chairman of the IEEPA Committee of Green Mining,; Dr. Hou Li’an, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Mr. Wang Jirong, Deputy Chairman of the 11th National People’s Congress Environmental Protection Committee, and former executive Vice President of the Central Committee of the Chineses Peasants and Workers Democratic Party. More than 200 Chinese and foreign guests participate in the conference. 

The World Economic and Environmental Conference was founded in 2008 with the UN conception of promoting the Green New Deal worldwide with a launch site in China. It was founded as a professional conference in the field of ecology and economy, as a platform for governmental and enterprise exchange and cooperation on climate change, sustainable development and economic growth, and as an attempt to lead the transition of countries around the world to a green ecological development model to jointly address the environmental problems facing the world in the course of human activities and economic development.

Since 2008, the WEC has been held on an annual basis. Each session includes ten thematic forums and industry conferences, and seven consecutive sessions and four annual meetings have been successfully held. The WEC was given appreciation and comments by Mr. Edmond Alphandéry, the former Minister of Finance and Economy of France,; Robert J. Aumann, Nobel Laureate; Mr Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Mr Josette Sheeran, Administrator of the World Food Programme (WFP); and Mr Supachai Panitchpakdi, former Secretary-General of UNCTAD.

2019 World Economic and Environmental Conference (WEC) Held in Beijing

2019年6月23日，由北京市国际生态经济协会主办，生态环境部环境发展中心、住房和城乡建设部中国城市规划设计研究院、生态环境部中华环境保护基金会、中国矿业大学、清华大学环境科学与工程研究院、南开大学环境科学与工程学院等共同协办，广东省科学技术协会、中华环境保护基金会生态经济绿色矿山基金支持下，广东省环境科学学会和IEEPA绿色矿山环保专业委员会承办的“国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展院士座谈会暨优化营商环境献策会”在广州市举行。

广东省副省长、党组成员张光军先生会见了远道而来的院士专家并致欢迎辞，中国工程院院士郝吉明、彭苏萍、陈勇、侯立安等和国资委副部级干部赵华林、中纪委原副部级巡视员、原中央纪委、中央组织部第一巡视组副组长、中国行为法学廉政行为研究会会长戴俭明、国务院参事室原副主任蒋明麟、生态环境部原总工程师、中国环境科学学会副理事长杨朝飞、生态环境部中华环境保护基金会理事长徐光、住房和城乡建设部中国城市规划设计研究院副院长、党委副书记李迅、澳门特区政府环境保护局环保基建管理中心主任陈国浩、全国人大环境与资源保护委员会办公室处长穆治霖、同济大学教授、上海市原环保局局长徐祖信、南开大学环境科学与工程学院副院长冯银厂、生态环境部环境规划院环境区划中心主任许开鹏、广东省科学技术协会党组书记、副主席郑庆顺、肇庆市人民政府副秘书长孔令炬、江门市人民政府副秘书长江宁进、河源市人民政府副秘书长何志锋等近二十余位领导专家出席座谈会，国际生态经济协会专职副会长兼秘书长李军洋主持会议。

广东省副省长、党组成员张光军在致辞中谈到，广东是经济大省，也是矿产资源的消耗大省，自然资源的开发利用与环境保护遇到许多难以协调的问题，解决这些问题需要我们全面落实好习近平生态文明思想，也需要我们深入把握绿色矿山环境保护的特点规律，需要我们要有科学的开发、治理、保护理念和系统性的科技手段，这次会议为我们提供了向各位权威院士专家学习请教、把握问诊的难得机遇，希望通过这次会议把各位领导专家对广东绿色矿山建设、生态文明建设的建言献策留在广东，以便更好地把矿山环境保护高质量发展的各项工作落实得更加具体，更有成效。

中国工程院院士、国际生态经济协会会长郝吉明在致辞中指出，针对当前国家绿色矿山，环境保护和高质量发展的迫切需要，全国各地也在积极行动；推进大湾区建设，是以习近平同志为核心的党中央做出的重大决策，要求建设发展科学规划；选择在广东省召开座谈会，期望以此为契机，助推大湾区、广东省及全国的绿色矿山，环境保护与高质量发展，有序进行自然资源的合理开发和高效利用，同时积极响应党中央、国务院关于进一步优化营商环境工作，形成政府、企业、专家和科研院校、社会组织共同合力，为我国的国民经济，走向高质量发展的新时代，做出不懈努力。

国际生态经济协会专职副会长兼秘书长李军洋在主持会议时强调，本次座谈会召开的背景，为深入贯彻习近平生态文明思想，积极践行“绿水青山就是金山银山”的两山发展理念，结合国家部委联合发布的《关于加快绿色矿山的实施意见》，同时响应国务院关于优化营商环境的指示精神，着力提升生态环保领域的营商环境，发挥院士专家作用，携手企业家共同合作，转换发展动能，积极打造生态生产力，提高城市绿色发展的竞争力，探索出资源绿色开发与生态经济优化发展路子，有效促进国家资源性产业和城市经济的高质量可持续性发展。

中国工程院院士、广东省科学技术协会主席陈勇在发言中提出，优先保护天然矿山，能够保护先保护，能够不开采尽量不要开采，优先保护天然矿山；如果必须要开采，那必须绿色开采；另外被开采的矿山要进行生态修复。

中国工程院院士、中国矿业大学地质与地球物理所所长、绿色矿山环保专业委员会主任委员彭苏萍在报告中指出，按照习近平同志对环境工作的一种要求，特别是对矿山环境的要求，绿色矿山环保专业委员会落实在广东省，作为一个社会的活动平台，不但是在广东省，而且在全国其他各地区进行沟通交流。

中国工程院院士、火箭军后勤科学技术研究所所长侯立安在以“绿色矿山的重金属水污染问题”为主题的报告时提出，重金属的污染源的数据库就亟待尽快建立，另外要源头削减重金属的排放量，倡导清洁生产、源头控制，还应向工业区推行一些绿色的提取和制造技术，同时也要推进重金属废弃物处理技术的绿色发展。

国务院国有资产监督管理委员会副部长级干部、党委巡视组组长赵华林作《大湾区生态高质量发展，提升企业营商环境核心竞争力》的主题演讲，赵华林强调，大湾区是一个国家的战略，可能是未来随着我们世界经济的发展变化，政治格局的变化，将会越来越重要，这个地方的前景和活力必将随着时间的推移显现。未来，大湾区四个城市群要建成全球最高质量的城市发展群，对于保证中国的经济发展竞争能力和对于世界的贡献，一带一路的贡献、环境的贡献，都将起到重大作用。

广东省相关政府部门领导介绍了绿色矿山相关的政策措施情况，广东省相关地市介绍了各地绿色矿山发展的经验，国家部委有关领导专家参与了座谈讨论，《国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展非金属砂石矿行业示范标准建设指南》的联合主编单位、珠海市昊飞绿色矿业有限公司总工程师高阳特别就企业承担的国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展整体项目规划做了汇报，引起领导专家的重视和各方参会代表的广泛关注。

本次会议正式发布了由国际生态经济协会和珠海市昊飞绿色矿业有限公司联合主编，生态环境部中国环境出版社正式出版发行的我国首份《国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展非金属砂石矿行业示范标准建设指南》；由国际生态经济协会绿色矿山环保专业委员会和中华环境保护基金会、珠海市昊飞绿色矿业有限公司共同合作设立并启动“中华环境保护基金会生态经济绿色矿山基金”；珠海市昊飞绿色矿业有限公司宣布建立郝吉明、彭苏萍、侯立安等院士在广东珠海成立院士工作站；中国矿业大学绿色矿山与生态修复研究中心计划正式在珠海市昊飞绿色矿业有限公司挂牌，积极助推广东省大湾区及全国的绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展。

绿色矿山是指在矿产资源开发全过程中既严格实施科学有序的开采，又将对矿区及周边环境的扰动控制在环境可承受范围内，使矿产资源开发利用与生态环境保护相协调的矿山，具有开采方式科学化、资源利用高效化、生产工艺环保化、矿山环境生态化、企业社区和谐化的特点。粗放的、对环境产生重要影响的矿山开采形势将迅速远去。要实现矿山行业的可持续发展，就必须走集约化、精细化、环保化的发展模式。

自然资源部于2018年发布了《非金属矿行业绿色矿山建设规范》等9项行业标准。自然资源部相关负责人表示，九大行业绿色矿山建设规范的编制原则是以促进资源合理利用、节能减排、保护生态环境和矿地和谐为主要目标，最终实现资源开发的经济效益、生态效益和社会效益协调统一，为发展绿色矿业、建设绿色矿山提供技术和管理支撑。同时，通过标准的制定，充分调动矿山企业的积极性，加强行业自律，使矿山企业将高效利用资源、保护环境、促进矿地和谐的外在要求转化为企业发展的内在动力，自觉承担起节约集约利用资源、节能减排、环境重建、土地复垦、带动地方经济社会发展的企业责任。

会上发布的《国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展非金属砂石矿行业示范标准建设指南》，是由原国务院环境保护领导小组办公室副主任、首任国家环保总局局长曲格平作为专家组名誉组长亲自作序，中国工程院院士郝吉明和彭苏萍共同牵头作为起草工作专家组组长，得到了中国工程院资深院士唐孝炎、中国工程院院士、工程院原副院长杜祥琬、中国工程院院士、广东省科学技术协会主席陈勇、中国工程院院士、生态环境部环境规划院院长王金南、中国工程院院士、火箭军后勤科学技术研究所所长侯立安、中国科学院院士、北京大学环境科学与工程学院副院长、北京市生态环境局副局长倪晋仁、国务院参事室参事、原国土资源部（自然资源部）总工程师张洪涛等支持修订，专家包括来自全国人大环境与资源保护委员会、国家发展改革委、自然资源部、生态环境部、工业与信息化部、住房与城乡建设部、中国工程院、中国科学院、清华大学、北京大学、南开大学、同济大学等三十余位国家部委和科研院校的专家，国际生态经济协会专职副会长李军洋和绿色矿山环保专业委员会副主任陈亚飞共同担任专家工作组秘书长，联合相关单位和专家共同实施完成，该书以标准化指导非金属砂石矿行业绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展示范建设在政策法规、企业管理规范、资源开发方式、资源高校综合利用、节能与能源高效利用、环境保护标准、生态修复标准、数字化矿山与人工智能应用、企地社区和谐与生态文明建设、促进区域可持续发展和发挥协同价值效应等方面的基本要求。

《国家绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展非金属砂石矿行业示范标准建设指南》主要架构分为三层设计，第一层为企业示范建设的自身标准要求，第二层为环境保护、节能与资源利用相关的实施规范，第三层为高质量发展的方向和内容指南；总体是以站在更高的环境保护要求和高质量、产业协同、可持续发展目标为起点，对企业自主承担项目示范的标准方案进行顶层设计，从战略纵深角度，进行科学规划，合理布局，优化产业链结构，采取高科技装备和数字化、智能化系统，应用能源高效、清洁生产、低碳循环与资源综合利用技术，构建国际先进绿色工业化的矿山建设、生产、运营体系，实施高端成套装备协同处置和科技创新整体应用，推动花园式、景观式、土地利用集约化、超高水平的工程一体化产业基地建设，提升我国非金属砂石矿行业高质量、高标准化建设发展水平。

本标准适用于非金属砂石矿行业新建、改扩建矿山和生产矿山的绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展企业示范建设。指导非金属砂石矿企业进行国家绿色矿山环境保护和高质量发展项目建设前的总体设计，对于企业建设标准化、专业化、绿色化、工业化、集约化、数字化、智能化、节能环保与资源高效利用的组织体系，具有顶层规划和建设指南的作用；引导和规范非金属砂石矿行业快速走向绿色化、工业化、集约化、数字化、智能化、国际化和健康可持续性发展道路；在我国传统非金属砂石矿行业，将大力推动建设一批具有国家级绿色矿山环境保护与高质量发展的示范性企业。

IEEPA Holding Symposium on High Quality Development of Green Mining

Integrating Swiss Innovation with China's Ecological Economy

From the white Jungfrau to the crystal clear Geneva Lake, Switzerland is known for its beautiful scenery. It is no doubt that ecological protection in Switzerland is of tremendous importance to both the government and the civil society. At the same time, the Swiss economy is also at the forefront of Europe with both globally renowned consumer brands such as Nestle, and the most famous high-tech biotechnology park in Europe, such as the Bio Alps.

 Switzerland's innovation is world-famous. China has also firmly moved towards the path of developing an ecological economy to further improve its civilization. The world-class innovation and eco-economic development models are combined to provide a broader stage for building sustainable economic and environmental development.

On July 23, 2018, Li Junyang, executive Vice President of the International Eco-Economic Association (IEEPA), and H.E. Jean-Jacques de Dardel, the Swiss ambassador to China, held talks on the theme of China's eco-economy and Swiss innovation cooperation.

Vice-President Li Junyang pointed out that Switzerland, as the first country to recognize China as a market economy, has extensive contacts with China. Switzerland, as one of the most highly developed countries in Europe, has rich scientific and technological accumulation in environmental equipment, bio-pharmaceuticals and green buildings. Switzerland, with its strong innovation ability, has a strong attraction to China's vast ecological industry. The establishment of connections through creating long term bridges between Chinese and Swiss companies will certainly promote Swiss technological innovation and the Chinese market to achieve more results through greater co-operation.

Ambassador H.E. Jean-Jacques de Dardel pointed out that Switzerland's leading position in the field of technological innovation is inseparable from the pragmatic working attitude of the Swiss people. The Swiss Embassy is willing to carry on with its pragmatic cooperation with the Association to promote Swiss high-tech enterprises and technologies to China, to achieve more development results in China's ecological economy and to bring mutual benefits to both nations.

The two sides also exchanged a project plan for the Swiss-Beijing Centre, which is being led by the Swiss government and supported at high level of China government. Currently in the process of promotion, Vice President Li Junyang said that IEEPA will actively support the project in all aspects. Vice President Li Junyang also introduced IEEPA’s work plan to promote its course innovatively. 

Finally, Ambassador H.E Jean-Jacques de Dardel said that the Swiss Embassy will attend the 2018 Beijing World Environmental (Economy and Environment) Conference held in Beijing this September and is willing to use the conference platform to further promote cooperation between the two nations. 

Integrating Swiss Innovation with China's Ecological Economy

On June 20, Mr. Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, met with Hon. C.T. Frolick, National Assembly Chairperson of South Africa and IEEPA Foreign Senior Advisor, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Mr. Li Zhanshu pointed out that the concept of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness put forward by President Xi Jinping were well implemented in Sino-African cooperation, and new achievements were made in Sino-African traditional friendship. More and more African friends speak highly of China's outstanding achievements and advanced experience. China is willing to strengthen exchanges of experience in governance and administration with African countries, including South Africa, to achieve common development between China and Africa.

Mr. Li Zhanshu said that Sino-South African relations are a model of friendly cooperation between developing countries and emerging countries. It is hoped that the two countries will take the opportunity of 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations as part of the Beijing Summit of the BRICs countries and the China-Africa Cooperation forum to jointly promote the construction of the "one belt and one road" initiative, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between the legislature departments on each side, and push forward the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and South Africa to a higher level.

Hon. C.T. Frolick said that China is a sincere friend of African countries. South Africa is willing to strengthen cooperation with China under the China Africa Cooperation Forum and the BRICs mechanism to promote the comprehensive development of bilateral relations.

Mr. Li Zhanshu Meets with Hon. C.T. Frolick, National Assembly Chairperson of South Africa and IEEPA Foreign Senior Advisor, at the Great Hall of the People

With a history of 2000 years, the Silk Road spirit embodying peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefits is rejuvenated under the "Belt and Road Initiative". Through the new road for interconnection, states along the Silk Road are breaking barriers and promoting policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, which injects new vitality into the world economy. The Belt and Road belongs to the world, and the world calls for blue water and sky!

However, it is still extremely challenging for the world to achieve blue water and sky by now, and people throughout the world are living in an environment calling for urgent improvement. The persistence of poverty, the social gap that is far from narrowing, and the disorganized economic development and human activities result in ecological pollution that cause huge environmental costs and survival crisis, leaving the nature being destroyed by human beings in large scale. Famine causes drought, and the severe ecology reality engulfs countless homes. In this context,

We have to reconsider the relationship between the environment and development, and think about policies and systems for balancing the ecological environment and economic development.

In order to promote the green and low-carbon transformational development of the world and to establish a global ecological aid system, it is time for every one of us to make our contributions for ecological system aid for the earth, for the world, for our country, for the people, and for our homes.

Therefore, we make this Initiative to call for the government, the industrial community, research institutions, social organizations, and individuals from all countries to work constantly and explore actively a road of "Belt and Road, Blue Water and Sky" for all the people on the world, i.e. a road of sustainable development reaching to the far future and supporting the civilization and prosperity of human beings.

Governments of all countries to seek the "biggest common denominator" for ecological protection and environment responsibility by formulating policies and systems integrating the environmental capacity with economic development, thereby reaching the objective of sustainable development by strategies on the national level. On the principles of ecological and environmental protection, pay attention to the protection of biological diversity and the prevention and control of systematic environment risks; promulgate laws and regulations to implement strict environmental quality standards, control the discharge of industrial wastes, and greatly reduce air and water pollution; encourage the research and development of ecological and environmental protection and of low-carbon technologies, and promote the use of clean energy and technologies; and innovate the ecological and green financial system to support ecological cities and human residential environment construction projects.

Under the irreversible trend of globalization, the vision of "mutual survival, mutual prosperity, and mutual benefits" for all human beings may be achieved only if the governments of all countries follow the globalization idea of green and low-carbon development and choose a development pattern with equal emphasis on both economic benefits and ecological environment.

Enterprises to proactively take their responsibilities for ecological protection and for green and low-carbon development in their production, operation, industrial investment. Playing a vital role in economic development, entrepreneurs have a mission of "doing business by honorable means and for the benefits of all human beings" to follow the ecological requirements and procedural norms of the countries in which they operate, follow the standards of environment quality and pollutant discharge, and integrate social interests and ecological interests with economic interests, so as to promote the joint development of the economy and environment and the sustainable prosperity of human beings while achieving the market values and social values of enterprises.

Social organizations and the middle force to proactively participate in the global ecological protection and environment administration, to play the role of ecological ambassadors at home and abroad, proactively participate in the establishment of a global ecological aid system, act as a steady bridge for the communication among the governments, the public, and the market, enhance social supervision on ecology and environment, detect and investigate acts of damaging the ecology and environment pollution, disseminate and promote ecological ideas, improve the awareness of environmental protection for the public, guide and influence acts of enterprises, drive all forces of society to actively practice their social responsibilities, and promote the harmonious development between human beings and the nature, so as to make their contributions for the objective of "blue water and sky."

Every citizen to improve their own awareness of ecological and environment protection and their sense of social responsibilities, to practice in a green and low-carbon manner, and to uphold the idea of ecological civilization. Every person has their expectation for beautiful lives. Since it is related to the development direction of the world, we need to make our contributions like butterflies shake their wings to initiate an endless hurricane of ecological protection throughout the world for the purpose of achieving our global objective of blue water and sky.

We believe that individual sparks can result in a prairie fire. If all the governments, enterprises, and citizens take their actions, we will definitely create a beautiful future with ecological economy and highly developed civilization for all human beings.

The new journey has started. Let's play the global music of "Belt and Road, Blue Water and Sky" together, let's work together to create a future that is more fair, greener, and safer, and lets jointly proceed to promote the unification between human development and the law of nature and create an endless and prosperous future.

Let's joint the green and low-carbon transformational development of the world with our practices in an effort to create a strong global ecological aid system for areas suffering from poverty and severe living conditions!

Promoting the Green and Low-Carbon Transformational Development of the World, and Establishing a Global Ecological Aid System

Recently, the Fourth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. From May to June, the NPC Standing Committee Air Pollution Prevention Law enforcement inspection component went to 8 provinces and autonomous regions to carry out inspections, and entrusted 23 provincial and municipal people's congress standing committees to carry out self-examination, achieving full coverage of law enforcement inspections. From the overall situation of law enforcement, civil awareness of ecological environmental protection has been significantly enhanced; rule of law has been further guaranteed for the prevention and control of air pollution; the law-enforcement efforts to promote air pollution control have been continuously increased. However, major problems still exist. Structural pollution problems are still prominent; the formulation of regulations and standards is lagging behind; the implementation of air pollution supervision and management system is not in place; the implementation of air pollution prevention and control measures in key areas is not strong enough; law enforcement supervision and judicial basis need to be strengthened; and legal responsibility is not well-implemented. The law enforcement inspection team was chaired by Chairman Li Zhanshu, and three vice-chairmen such as Wang Chen, Shen Yueyue and Ding Zhongli. Secretary-General Yang Zhenwu and Gao Hucheng, chairman of the National People's Congress Environmental Protection Committee, served as deputy team leaders. From the central to the local, from the NPC to the State Council, the ministries and commissions are mobilized to win the battle of the Blue Sky Campaign, the top priority of our fight against pollution.

The Fourth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th NPC pointed out that one of the important reasons for the problems in the prevention and control of air pollution is that the responsibilities listed by our law have not been put in place. The purpose of law enforcement inspection is to take the law as the criterion, bearing in mind that ecological environment quality can only be better and not deteriorated as our principal responsibility, in order to promote the leadership and supervision responsibilities of the government and relevant authorities, so as to urge enterprises to implement their responsibility.

In June 2017, the 28th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th NPC made the decision on Amending the Civil Litigation Law and the Administrative Litigation Law of the People's Republic of China. The formal implementation of this decision on July 1 marked the formal establishment of the public interest litigation system of the procuratorate. It laid the foundation for pilot to full-scale implementation of the public interest litigation system. As the main body of public interest litigation, how non-profit organizations play their roles requires the strong support and active participation of both the government and the civil society.　　 

"Registered under the civil affairs department of the government at or above the municipal level in accordance with the law; specialized in environmental protection public welfare activities for more than five years without any illegal records." According to the "Environmental Protection Law" implemented on January 1, 2015, it is stipulated that social organizations that meet the above conditions may file a lawsuit in the people's court

The actual situation is that the proportion of non-profit organizations that file environmental public interest litigation cases is not high. According to the working report of the Supreme People's Court, in the past five years, the procuratorial organs have filed 1,383 public interest litigation cases. On the contrary, 252 environmental public interest litigation cases were filed by social organizations

Lu Zhongmei, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy director of the Social and Legal Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pointed that: The number of cases in which public organizations filed public interest litigation has declined.

According to a news survey, since the implementation of the new Environmental Protection Law on January 1, 2015, until June 2017, the National Court has accepted 246 first-instance cases of environmental civil public interest litigation initiated by social organizations, accounting for less than 20% of all public interest litigation cases. In the past three years, only 25 social organizations in China have filed environmental public interest litigation, and most of them have been sued by several social organizations as joint plaintiffs. The reality is that the cost of environmental public interest litigation is high, and the lack of special funds for social organizations exists.

On the one hand, the experts and scholars have called for the establishment of "national environmental public interest litigation fund". On the other hand, it is suggested that the government introduce incentive measures to strengthen the construction of the social organizations’ capacity.

Lu Zhongmei proposed that social organizations can be encouraged to improve the capabilities of staffs, enhance professional knowledge, in order to enhance their ability to develop sustainably, through capacity building and demonstrative activities.

In 2015 and 2016, the “National University Student Environmental Resources Moot Court Competition”, supported by the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) with non-profit funds, is a good practice for cultivating environmental legal professionals in the new era. To promote the building of the professional powers in environmental laws, the first step is to establish a team of professional environmental legal talents. Hence, we can further consolidate the professionalization of our judicial institutions and judges, and provide judicial services and guarantees for the country and society to promote ecological civilization construction and green development.

IEEPA calls on all parties to actively support and participate in the cultivation of judicial talents for environmental resources in China. The government should pay attention to and give special funds for support. Non-profit organizations need to further strengthen their capacity building to become a strong civil force to supervise China's cause of ecological environment resources protection.

Non-profit organizations further strengthen capacity building, becoming the strong civil force to supervise China's cause of ecological environment resources protection