On Nov. 1, MEP assembled all the officials and staff to study, disseminate, and implement the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC. Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie presented and delivered remarks at the symposium. A leading Party member and Vice Minister Zhai Qing moderated the meeting. All the officials and staff with the internal departments, regional offices, and affiliated institutions of the Ministry attended the meeting at the main and branch venues.
On Nov. 2, a joint meeting was held on the sidelines of the 30th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress, in which inquiries were made while deliberating the Report of the Law Enforcement Inspection Team under the NPC Standing Committee on Inspecting the Progress in Enforcing the Law on Prevention and Control of Pollution by Solid Wastes. Minister Li Ganjie and Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin presented and delivered remarks at the meeting.
Between Nov. 2 and 4, Vice Minister Huang Runqiu went to Beijing and Baoding of Hebei Province to oversee the integrated air pollution control in the autumn and winter and sent regards to the strict inspectors and tour inspectors.
On Nov. 3, Vice Minister Liu Hua met in Beijing with Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board of TerraPower and the Founder of Microsoft. The two sides exchanged views on the issues of common concern.
On Nov. 6, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie chaired a meeting of the Group and conveyed the spirits while General Secretary Xi Jinping addressed the standing committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee as they visited the site of the 1st National Congress of the CPC, and the guiding principles of the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Earnestly Studying, Disseminating, and Implementing the Guiding Principles of the 19th National Congress. Vice Ministers Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at the meeting. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu and directors general of the internal departments observed the meeting.
MEP adopted in principle the Measures on the Administration of Pollutant Emission Permitting (on trial) at a ministerial affairs meeting presided over by Minister Li Ganjie. Vice Ministers Huang Runqiu, Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at the meeting. The heads of the Ministry’s internal departments attended the meeting.
On Nov. 7, Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin met with Andrew Petter, President of Canada-based Simon Fraser University (SFU), in Beijing. The two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern.
Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presided over a plenary session of the group to make plans for the study and implementation of the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC.
On Nov. 8, MEP held a symposium in Beijing on promoting the reform of the environmental impact assessment system. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu presided over and addressed the symposium.
Vice Minister Zhai Qing went to Cangzhou Municipality of Hebei Province to check the progress of the strict inspection and tour inspection on the integrated air pollution control in the autumn and winter, as well as the pilot monitoring of the hot grids, and sent regards to the strict and tour inspectors.
Vice Minister Liu Hua met with the President and CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company José Emeterio Gutiérrez, in Beijing. The two sides exchanged views on the issues of common concern.
Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying went on an inspection tour to the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning to check the study and implementation of the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC.
On Nov. 9, the appraisal meeting of the 2017 annual Environmental Protection Science and Technology Award was held in Beijing. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu presided over the meeting and moderated the appraisal.
Between Nov. 9 and 11, Minister Li Ganjie went on an inspection tour to Shaanxi to check the study and implementation of the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC. During the tour, Li chaired a symposium to hear the opinions and recommendations of relevant leading officials in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang on furthering ecological conservation and environmental protection, checked the progress in the fight against heavy air pollution in Guanzhong Area, checked the heat suppliers on the pollution reduction, made a field trip to Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center to figure out the capacity building and analysis and estimation of heavy air pollution, and paid a visit and sent regards to all the staff with the Northeast Environmental Inspection Bureau. Also, Li went to Yan’an Municipality where he observed the sacred revolutionary sites and checked the local achievements in ecological and environmental improvements in the countryside.
On Nov. 10, MEP adopted national environmental protection standard Technical specification for olfactory laboratory construction (HJ 865–2017), which shall enter into force as of the date of release.
From Nov. 10 to 11, Vice Minister Huang Runqiu went on an inspection tour to Henan to check the local progress in the thematic inspection over national nature reserve-“Green Shield 2017” .
On Nov. 13, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie, went together with all the leading Party members to Pingshan County of Hebei Province to observe the Xibaipo Revolutionary Site, honored the great deeds of the older generation of revolutionaries, recalled the glorious history when the Party led the people in the revolutionary fight, and refreshed the admission oaths. Deputy Governor of Hebei Province Li Qian accompanied the group in the event. Vice Ministers Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying, and directors general of relevant internal departments presented at the meeting.
MEP and the People’s Government of Hebei Province signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Ecological and Environmental Protection of Xiong’an New Area, in Shijiazhuang Municipality of Hebei Province. Minister Li Ganjie and Governor of the People’s Government of Hebei Province Xu Qin signed the agreement on behalf of both parties. Secretary of the CPC Hebei provincial committee Wang Dongfeng presented at the signing ceremony. Vice Ministers Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at and witnessed the signing ceremony. Directors general of the relevant internal departments attended the event.
On Nov. 14, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie presided over a meeting of the Group to study and implement the work programme on which General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions, and conveyed Some Rules of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Strengthening and Upholding the Collective and Unified Leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the Detailed Implementation Rules of the Eight-point Decision on Improving Party and Government Conduct. Vice Ministers Zhai Qing and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at the meeting. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu and directors general of the internal departments observed the meeting.
On Nov. 15, MEP printed out the Circular on Enabling Complementarity between the Environmental Impact Assessment System and the Pollutant Emission Permit System.
On Nov. 16, MEP held a video conference in Beijing on banning foreign solid wastes and promoting the institutional reform on solid waste import management. Minister Li Ganjie presented and delivered remarks at the conference. Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin chaired the conference. The directors general of relevant internal departments attended the event in the main venue. The heads of the environmental protection departments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, the prefectural cities (prefectures, leagues), and counties (cities, districts, and banners), as well as the heads of regional environmental inspection bureaus observed at branch venues.
On Nov. 17, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli went on an inspection tour to MEP and presided over a symposium to earnestly implement the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and make plans for the air pollution control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas and for other major tasks. Vice Premier Zhang observed the national platform for real-time air quality monitoring data and the heavy air pollution emergency response management platform for the cities on the air pollution passage in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. He heard a presentation on the air quality estimation and forecast system, visited the exhibitions on the ecological conservation and environmental protection work, and inquired about the effectiveness of the air, water, and soil pollution action plans and related environmental inspection and accountability efforts, as well as the environmental protection developments in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas and other key regions.
Between Nov. 17 and 18, Vice Minister Zhai Qing went on a field trip to Dalian Municipality of Liaoning Province to check the public access to local environmental infrastructure.
On Nov. 17 and 24, the thematic symposium organized by the Permanent Discipline Inspection Group and oriented to the national environmental protection system with a theme on “studying and implementing the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and strengthening intra-Party supervision” was held in Nanchang Municipality of Jiangxi and Shijiazhuang Municipality of Hebei respectively. The Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented and spoke at the meeting.
Between Nov. 20 and 24, the COP 11 of the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the MOP 29 of the Montreal Protocol on the Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer were held in Montreal, Canada. Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin headed a Chinese Government delegation and presented at the meeting. On the sidelines of the events, Zhao met separately with the UN Deputy Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Erik Solheim, Executive Secretary of the Ozone Secretariat Tina Birmpili, and Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna and exchanged views on issues of common concern.
On Nov. 21, MEP held a wrap-up meeting for the environmental management of random polluters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas and the final stage of the air pollution control efforts there in the autumn and winter. Minister Li Ganjie presented and delivered remarks at the meeting. Before the meeting, Li Ganjie went to Wen’an County in Langfang to check the environmental management and upgrading of random polluters, inspected the capacity building and air quality monitoring sites at community level, and sent regards to the community-level environmental protectors. Vice Minister Zhai Qing presided over the meeting and also took the inspection tour. The persons in charge of such environmental management in the people’s governments of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan presented and delivered remarks at the meeting. The directors general of the EPDs (EPBs) of the six provinces (municipalities) and relevant internal departments, regional offices, and affiliated institutions of the Ministry attended the meeting.
Vice Minister Liu Hua met in Beijing with President of Argentine Nuclear Regulatory Authority Néstor Masriera. The two sides exchanged views on the issues of common concern.
On Nov. 24, MEP adopted national environmental protection standard Technical guideline for population exposure assessment of environmental pollutant (HJ 875–2017), which shall enter into force as of the date of release.
On Nov. 25, MEP printed out the Regulations on the Management of the Catalogue of Major Polluters (on trial).
On Nov. 27, Minister Li Ganjie presided over the executive meeting which considered and adopted in principle the Discharge standard for water pollutants from ships (amendment to GB3552-83) and the Work Programme for the Performance Evaluation of the Attainment of 2017 Annual Goals concerning the Water and Air Quality and the Total Water and Air Pollutant Load Control, and mulled over the overall thinking and major measures for ecological and environmental protection in 2018. Vice Ministers Huang Runqiu, Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at the meeting. The directors general of the internal departments attended the meeting.
On Nov. 28, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie presided over an enlarged meeting of the group to circulate the notice of the CPC Central Committee on the serious disciplinary violations of Zhang Yang and his suicide. Vice Ministers Zhao Yingmin and Liu Hua, Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying, and retired Ministers and Vice Ministers Zhou Shengxian, Zhu Guangyao, Wang Xinfang, Fu Wenjuan, and Wang Yuqing presented at the meeting.
Lancang-Mekong Environmental Cooperation Center was established in Beijing. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu presented at the founding ceremony and delivered remarks.
MEP adopted 10 national environmental protection standards including Water quality–Determination of turpentine–Purge and trap/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HJ 866-2017), which shall enter into force on Jan. 1, 2018. The Determination of sulpur dioxide from exhausted gas of stationary source-Fixed-potential electrolysis method (HJ57-2000) shall be abolished as of the same date.
MEP adopted the national environmental protection standard Metadata specification for environment information (HJ 720–2017), which shall take effect as of Jan. 1, 2018.
MEP adopted national environmental protection standard Technical regulation of investigation on children’s soil ingestion rate-Tracer element method (HJ 876–2017), which shall enter into force as of the date of release.
MEP announced the Technical Guidance for the Statistical Analysis of Investigation Data for Environment and Health Cross Sections.
From Nov. 28 to 30, MEP and NDRC held a meeting in Beijing among the inter-departmental leading group for ecological conservation red lines. Vice Minister Huang Runqiu presided over and delivered remarks at the meeting. The representatives of the member organizations of the leading group attended the meeting.
On Nov. 29, the Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying went on an inspection tour to the Department of Communications and Education to check the progress in “studying and implementing the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the CPC and strengthening intra-Party supervision” and heard report on the study of the guiding principles of the Congress.
On Nov. 30, Secretary of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Minister Li Ganjie presided over an enlarged meeting of the central team of the group and a tutorial lecture on the second volume of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. Research Fellow Zhang Hefu with CCCPC Party Literature Research Office delivered the tutorial lecture. Vice Ministers Huang Runqiu, Zhai Qing, and Liu Hua, and Leader of the Discipline Inspection Group Wu Haiying presented at the lecture. The entire officials of the internal departments and the leaderships of the Ministry’s regional offices and affiliated institutions heard the lecture.
MEP adopted national environmental protection standard Technical regulation of investigation on exposure factors (HJ 877–2017), which shall enter into force as of the date of release.
