On Mar. 21, MEE Minister Li Ganjie presided over a meeting to convey the guiding principles of the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress and the first session of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC, and make plans for the next phase.

The meeting stressed that MEE will firmly uphold the decisions and resolutions of the NPC & CPPCC annual sessions. The Party organizations and members of the Ministry and its branches will earnestly study the guiding principles of the important statements and instructions made by Secretary General Xi Jinping at the Two Sessions, keep our thoughts and actions in alignment with the decisions and plans of the Two Sessions, brace to put up a tough fight against pollution, and make greater contributions to completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and developing China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.

The meeting noted that General Secretary Xi Jinping’s closing remarks at the first session of the 13th NPC call for the building of ecological civilization and the ecological and environmental protection, and stress the importance to advance the ecological progress with more solid measures, accelerate the pace to develop green work and life styles, and vigorously tackle acute environmental problems, so that our country will enjoy bluer skies, greener mountains, cleaner waters, and a more beautiful environment, and that the philosophy that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” will be acted upon and brought to reality in our country. Xi also spoke a lot about the ecological civilization and ecological and environmental protection on many occasions when he joined the discussions of Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Shandong, and Chongqing delegations to the NPC and visited the CPPCC members. All this indicated that the CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to the building of ecological civilization and the ecological and environmental protection.

This year’s Two Sessions marks a milestone in a crucial period since the 19th CPC National Congress for us to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embark on a new journey towards fully building China into a modern socialist country, commented the meeting. The highlights of this year’s agenda are the election of new terms of top authorities, the amendments to the Constitution, and the institutional restructuring, which provide leadership support for leading the people of all ethnic groups to achieve the objectives of the “Two Centennials”, constitutional support for upholding and developing the socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era, and institutional support for fully implementing the decisions and plans of the 19th National Congress.

The meeting held that the Party organizations at all levels of the Ministry should pay close attention to implementing the guiding principles of the Two Sessions. First, we should resolutely uphold the authority and the collective and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. Xi’s election as President of State and Chairman of the Central Military Commission by a unanimous vote at the first session of the 13th NPC further consolidates his position as the core of the Party, the commander of the army, and the top leader of the people. The unanimousness in voting fully demonstrates the unparalleled trust and firm support of the whole Party, the whole army and the whole nation.

Second, we should conduct awareness activities and enforce the new Constitution. China has made certain amendments to the Constitution, one of which is to add provisions on ecological civilization and beautiful China, to this overarching and fundamental law of the country, a move that rests greater responsibilities on the ecological and environmental departments. Accordingly, we should organize outreach activities and promote the compliance with the amendments to the Constitution in the ecological and environmental departments across the country and uphold Constitution as the top law of the country. We should, with the thinking of the rule of law and through the law-based approaches, deepen the reforms, advance development, reconcile contradictions, and improve the ecological and environmental quality. We will also take this opportunity to put up a tough battle against pollution, adhere to the administration by law, and work to notably cut down the total pollutant load, improve the overall ecological and environmental quality, continuously take the green development up to new levels, and constantly meet the ever-growing demands of the people for a beautiful environment. We will have the leading officials of the Ministry’s internal departments and affiliated institutions to take oath of allegiance to the Constitution, and invigorate their enthusiasm for striving to develop China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful.

Third, we will well accomplish the task of establishing the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. We will steadily proceed with the setup of the internal departments to support the efficient operation of the new Ministry so that it will shoulder the new missions, mandates, and tasks assigned by the central authorities. The institutional reform should serve the best interests of the Party and the people, meet the bigger-picture needs, and be meticulous, thorough, organized, and step by step. The transition of the staffing and the functions should be steady and smooth, and the staff should be kept motivated and united. We will help finalize the functions, departments, and permanent staffing of the new Ministry and make sure the smooth transition from the former to the new ministry.

Fourth, we will put up a good fight against pollution, which is a major decision made by the 19th National Congress of the CPC as part of the efforts to secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects. We will, aiming at achieving the objectives to “improve the ecological and environmental quality, reduce the total loads of main pollutants, and control environmental risks”, highlight the air, water, and soil pollution control, boost the development of green growth models and lifestyles, accelerate the ecosystem conservation and restoration, and set up a sound environmental governance system. We will perfect our plans and address the tough challenges with tough measures. We will highlight the priorities, strengthen our weak points, and tighten our schedules. The top priority is to win the defense battle for blue skies and constantly meet the ever-growing demand of the people for a beautiful environment.

Fifth, we will play our part in comprehensively strengthening the Party discipline. The Party organizations at all levels of the Ministry and its branches should contribute to comprehensively strengthening the Party discipline and oversee this effort. We should give top priority to raising the political awareness, carry out institutional development throughout the whole process, tighten intraparty political conduct, and strictly enforce the Party's political discipline and political rules.

Huang Runqiu, Liu Hua, Cheng Lifeng, Wang Jinnan, Liu Bingjiang, Tang Bo, and Wen Xiangcai, the NPC deputies and CPPCC members who work with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and its branches and presented at this year’s Two Sessions, shared their experience in the capacity of a said deputy or member.

Comrades Zhao Yingmin, Wu Haiying, and Zhuang Guotai voiced their opinions on implementing the guiding principles of the Two Sessions, based on their respective responsibilities.

The Party chiefs and directors general of the internal departments and Beijing-based affiliated institutions attended the meeting.