Enhancing Green Development and Promoting Chinese Modernization by Mitigating Pollution and Reducing Carbon Emissions
In his report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Party Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that Chinese modernization is the modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature. And on this year’s National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, he further noted that “we should accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of our development modes, maintain green and low-carbon development as the fundamental solution to ecological environmental issues, accelerate the formation of green production modes and lifestyles, and lay a green foundation for high-quality development.” Sitting on the western shore of Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao West Coast New Area faces the Yellow Sea to its east. The district is the 9th state-level new area approved by the State Council of China in June 2014. In recent years, while implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, Qingdao West Coast New Area takes green and low carbon development as an integral part of its high-quality development, promote reforms in an inclusive manner in its guiding policies, industrial innovation, ecological governance, and enhancing the value of ecological products, and adopts an enlightened approach to development that results in expanded production, a better life and sound ecological and environmental conditions. As a result, a beautiful scroll of bluer skies, greener mountains and clearer waters is unfolding.
In recent years, Qingdao West Coast New Area has maintained a strong momentum for high-quality economic and social development, achieving new heights in terms of overall strength. In 2022, its GDP hit 469.185 billion RMB yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, ranking the 3rd among all the state-level new areas. The growth is 1.8%, 1.9%, and 0.9% higher than the national, provincial and municipal figures respectively. Accounting for 31.4% of Qingdao’s total, the district ranks the 3rd among all the state-level new areas. From January to September this year, its GDP reached 36.503 billion RMB yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, making itself the backbone for Qingdao’s development. While maintaining the first place in high-quality economic development in Shandong Province for three years, Qingdao West Coast New Area also has achieved remarkable results in ecological development. It has been awarded honors such as National Ecological Demonstration Zone, Ecologically Outstanding District in Shandong Province, and selected as one of the first National Pilot Areas for Climate Investment and Financing and a key area for promoting rural ecological revitalization throughout its jurisdiction. Lingshan Bay, in particular, won the first place in the first batch of Beautiful Bays in China. In 2022, the energy consumption per unit GDP in Qingdao West Coast New Area decreased to 0.26 tons of standard coal per 10000 yuan, a drop of 9.72% compared to 2020. In November last year, the delegation from Qingdao West Coast New Area shared their experience titled “How We Manage to Preserve Ecology While Creating Economic Growth” at a side event of COP 27.
I. Optimizing Industrial Structure to Enhance Green Development
In recent years, Qingdao West Coast New Area has been readjusting its energy mix, industrial structure, forms of transport and ways of life. While resolutely curbing the haphazard expansion of energy-intensive, high-emission and low-quality projects, the district stayed committed to green and low-carbon development as the fundamental solution to environmental and ecological ills, and worked to make industries, energy, and supporting systems greener.
Qingdao West Coast New Area has established a policy guidance system. The Shandong Provincial People’s Government formulated the Three-Year Action Plan for High Quality Development of Qingdao West Coast New Area (2023-2025), to give full play of the unique advantages of Qingdao West Coast New Area in piloting green and low carbon high quality development to push Qingdao West Coast New Area into new heights in all-around improvement of its development quality and efficiency. And also, in Qingdao West Coast New Area, a series of guiding documents, such as the Three-Year Action Plan for Replacing Old Growth Drivers with New Ones and Promoting Green, Low Carbon, and High-Quality Development (2023-2025), the 14th Five-Year Plan on the Development of Ecological Environment, the 14th Five-Year Plan on the Development of New Energy Industries, the 14th Five-Year Work Plan on Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction, and Development Plan of Hydrogen Industries, have been carried out to ensure that green and low carbon development is well-regulated.
A green industry system is taking shape in the district. Key areas and industries have been selected to enhance the core competitiveness for the green development of industrial chains. Those industries including the five industries with conventional advantage namely ship-building and marine engineering, intelligent home appliances, high-end chemical new materials, automobile, and high-end equipment; the five strategic emerging industries including chip and screen, marine bio-medicine, VR, AI, film and TV; as well as the seven modern service industries such as modern finance, modern logistics, modern commerce, software and information services, technology services, cultural and tourism services, and convention and exhibition. To date, there are over 50 state-owned innovation platforms, 747 small and medical science enterprises. The Center for Ocean Mega-Science of CAS has settled in Qingdao West Coast New Area. Qingdao Haier Washing Machine Interconnected Factory obtained a carbon neutrality certificate issued by China Quality Certification Center and the Carbon Neutrality Committee of China Energy Conservation Association, and became the first “carbon neutral” factory in the global home appliance industry. The new energy lamination technology of Lishen (Qingdao) was applied to lithium battery production lines for the first time in China, increasing the battery capacity by 2% and safety by 10, and efficiency and profit by more than 10% respectively. Power Valley Zhigu (Qingdao Science City) incubated and introduced CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) technology and zero carbon industry projects, actively promotes green steel joint projects, and promotes the industrialization of carbon dioxide capture and utilization technology. There are now 15 green manufacturing factories of provincial-level or above, and 52 national green manufacturing products. Last year, the added value of the so-called“four new economic patterns”and the tertiary industry made up a large proportion of the regional GDP.
In terms of green industry, Qingdao Green and Low Carbon New Materials Industrial Park (Dongjiakou Park) has blazed a new path. In the planning and construction stage, on the one hand, green and low carbon cyclic development of the park is achieved by establishing four major circulation systems at various levels starting from within a certain company to among industries, clusters, and public facilities. On the other hand, the infrastructure and supporting facilities will be improved to build a professional park that is green, recycling, intelligent and safe through measures such as renovating and upgrading of pipe racks. In the first half of this year, the General Office of the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government issued Several Policies for the Development of Qingdao Green and Low-Carbon New Materials Industrial Park (Dongjiakou Park), proposing to build the park into a first-class green and low-carbon new materials industrial park in China.
A green energy system has been forged. For example, Qingdao Port, the world’s 4th largest port in cargo throughput and 5th largest one in container throughput. Over the years, Qingdao Port has committed to green development. It has built a top-notch fully automated container terminal, which is the first of its kind in Asia. It has been awarded the title “Asia Pacific Green Port” and is the first “dual five star” port in China. Qingdao Port has developed a diversified and new energy system featuring hydrogen, photovoltaic, and wind power utilization. The first hydrogen station in a coastal port in China (Qianwan Port Hydrogen Station) was built with a hydrogen refueling capacity exceeding 15,000kg. The world’s first automated hydrogen container crane and hydrogen energy collection trucks have been put into operation. Photovoltaic renovated bridge crane rooms, the first of its kind in China have been put into use. Over 10 megawatts of photovoltaic projects have been built or are under construction in the port, providing an annual power supply of over 10 million KWh. Wind power generation technology has been carried out as pilot projects, providing an annual green power supply of approximately 1.7 million KWh. China’s first gasoline-electricity hybrid tugboat has been out into operation, reducing 600 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Four power stations for electric tractors and dump trucks have been built, and over 100 electric vehicles have been put into use. All these measures provide successful experience of new energy application for ports all over the world.
Giving full play to the advantages of industrial by-products such as hydrogen of enterprises such as Sinopec Qingdao Refining and Chemical and Jinneng Technology, West Coast Hydrogen Energy Industrial Park was built. Four projects have been selected as provincial major hydrogen energy demonstration projects. Meijin hydrogen buses rolled off the production line. Qingdao West Coast New Area was selected as a national pilot area for rooftop distributed PV development. To date, a total of 308,800 kilowatts of rooftop distributed photovoltaics have been connected to the grid. The 100MW/200MWh Energy Storage Power Station, a demonstration project of Datang Huangdao Power Generation Co., Ltd, was connected to the grid for operation. The world’s largest sea water energy station was put into use. By now, clean energy contributes 35% to heat supply in the entire area.
Financial support system for green and low carbon technologies has been improved. The newly established science and technology innovation committee has set up special funds for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industries, and promoted the large-scale application and iterative innovation of green and low-carbon technologies. The first carbon neutral loan, the first batch of carbon emission rights pledge loans, and the first green loan with “liability insurance on the performance of green buildings” in the province were all issued in Qingdao West Coast New Area. In 2022, Qingdao West Coast New Area took the lead in launching climate investment and financing pilot projects in China. The district formulated the Criteria for Identifying Climate Investment and Financing Projects (Trial), Measures for Financial Institutions in Qingdao West Coast New Area to Support Climate Investment and Financing Projects (Trial), etc. With collection efforts for 5 time, over 150 projects have been selected and included in the Qingdao West Coast New Area Climate Investment and Financing Project Lists after reviews made by experts from IIGF. The total investment hit more than 100 billion yuan, of which 7 projects received bank loans of more than 3 billion yuan. In terms of green and low carbon industry cultivation and project support, the balance of green credit reached 37.86 billion yuan as of June 2023, an increase of 35.46% from the beginning of the year; of which the balance of climate investment and financing loans was 9.268 billion yuan.
Generally speaking, buildings with “Green” labels obtain financial support after they are put into operation. However, even at the construction period, the developers often urgently need funds. There is a mismatch of time between green credit issuance and green building assessment. To solve this problem, a bank in Qingdao issued a green loan of 80 million yuan to an enterprise engaged in green building engineering. It is the first green loan in Shandong Province with “liability insurance on the performance of green buildings”. The insurance company provided services including risk management in and after the process, and compensation afterwards. The banking institution provides financial support with low interest through insurance-enhanced credit. This pioneering project not only solved the financing problem for companies, but also broadened financing channels for banks to assist in the development of green buildings.
II. Pursuing Harmonious Coexistence between Humans and Nature to Make the Harmonious City More Dynamic
In the process of urbanization, how can we coordinate the spatial layout of production, life and ecology, and achieve win-win results between environmental protection and urban development? This is an arduous task for local governments. We will, as always, promote simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon approach to life and work.
The development of green industrial parks has been comprehensively promoted. In developing Sino-German Ecopark, the district taps into the latest German experience of eco-park development and give priority to establishing and applying ecological standards, structuring and developing low-carbon industries, and building and promoting eco-parks. The district explores building Sino-German Ecopark into a pilot zone for zero carbon emissions and a lighthouse base for carbon neutrality, and developing a model for building low-carbon parks that promote the integrated growth of the industries and the city. By doing these, a raft of replicable low-carbon practices has been worked out, which are promoted on the UN Climate Change Conference, the 12th International Green and Energy-efficient Building Conference and the 1st Seminar on Cooperation Between Chinese and German Cities in Standardization. Sino-German Ecopark won accolades including Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements Awards and China Human Settlements and Environment Awards, and over 20 state-level honors in low-carbon cities, smart cities and intelligent manufacturing. In addition, Sino-German Ecopark is the only case in the fields of green building and green energy in China to be included in the Green and Thriving Neighborhoods Program and is praised by the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Ministry of Economy of Germany as a “lighthouse project between Chinese and German governments in ecology and exemplary park for bilateral cooperation between China and Germany”.
Urban and rural development is made greener and less carbon-intensive. Paths are explored to developing cities in an eco-friendly and high-quality way, and pursue a green building initiative. China’s first institute for green buildings has been established, 40 standards for sustainable development have been developed in green and eco-friendly construction and management and passive houses for residential use, among others, and green building standards are applied in newly-constructed buildings so that the use of green building materials is prioritized.
An apt example is Sino-German Ecopark, which has been exploring a model for building low-carbon parks that promote the integrated growth of the industries and the city. Blueprint for Green Development. Green development of a higher caliber is pursued in all stages in building the Ecopark, including surveys into its ecological fundamentals, establishment of ecological indicators, green planning and green standards systems, implementation of green and low-carbon development and assessment of construction. Low-impact development and the building of a sponge city are pursued so that original ecological textures are preserved to the greatest extent possible, and areas hit by geological disasters are restored to conserve biodiversity. The Ecopark has been formulating and implementing a system of ecological indicators. Relevant contents of the system are included in the Reference Guide for the Work of International Collaborative Eco-Parks by the Ministry of Commerce of China to guide development zones across the country in green transition. Green and Ecological Practice. The Ecopark is committed to maximizing efficiency in the use of resources by making the best of its topography, existing resources as well as construction wastes. The passive house technology has been introduced from PHI, Germany and a set of norms have been formulated as befit local climatic conditions to popularize ultra-low energy consumption buildings. Up to now, 1.13 million square meters of ultra-low energy consumption buildings have been constructed reducing 24,500 tons of carbon emissions annually. Taking lead in Asia in passive house development, the Ecopark has successfully held the 1st and the 4th Asia Passive House Conference. In the meantime, effort is made to build the Ecopark into a world class Green Building Demonstration Zone by ensuring all the new buildings match green construction code and all the new civic buildings comply with the two-star green standards. A total of 8.35 million square meters of green buildings have been constructed, 50% of them living up the two-star standards. Some buildings are even granted the two-star certification, such as the German Enterprise Center Qingdao and the Passive House Technology Center, the former wins the DGNB Certificate in Platinum, which is the top award introduced by DGNB. The Ecopark is actively carrying out China’s dual carbon targets and evolving into a zero-carbon pilot zone. Green Industries. Guided by the philosophy of green development, the Ecopark has formed leading and competitive systems of industries including intelligent manufacturing, gene technology, and integrated circuits. Fixed asset investment went from zero to 121.2 billion yuan. Ten of the Global Fortune 500 companies have invested 24 projects in the Ecopark. Meanwhile, 30 plus industry leaders launched projects and 4,440 market entities were registered there with an accumulative investment of about 100 billion yuan and an annual output of 40 billion yuan. Green Life. Over ten years, the Ecopark has grown from an area with 15 villages into a big settlement of 780,000 square meters. About 10,000 people moved from old villages into new buildings and found jobs around. An innovated property management system for the new community was set up with intelligent applications in an aim to build a livable, resilient, and smart residential area. In addition, a sound education system from elementary schools and middle schools to vocational schools and universities has been set up, enrolling more than 8,000 students. A number of events are available in the Ecopark such as the Spartan Race, Kuma Fun Run, National Marine Model Tournament, Internationaler Deutscher Irmler-Klavierwettbewerb and German Shopping Festival, to name a few.
Active steps are taken to build a green and low-carbon transport system. In recent years, Qingdao has continuously improved its port and railway infrastructure, sped up the collection and distribution of goods in the port, and accelerated the transformation of road transportation to railways and waterways. With steady improvements made to the multi-modal transport system, more bulk goods have been carried by train, ship and pipeline instead of truck. Qingdao leads the country in the adjustment of transportation structure and multimodal transport. At present, bulk goods such as coal and ore with a transportation distance of over 400 kilometers are generally transported by railway or waterway. In the first three quarters of this years, bulk cargo goods transported via environmentally friendly means of “railway+waterway” accounted for 93.7% and 72.4% of all goods respectively in Qianwan and Dongjiakou Areas of Qingdao Port, and oil products transported via environmentally friendly means of “railway+waterway+pipeline” accounts for 88.2% of those in the whole port.
The green development of public transport not only helps build a green and low carbon bus travel system, but also improves the overall image and service capabilities of the city. In recent years, Qingdao West Coast New Area has continuously optimized the energy consumption structure of public transport, vigorously promoted clean energy buses, and accelerated the elimination of old, high-energy-consuming, and high-emission vehicles. By October 2023, there are a total of 2,340 public vehicles, in which 2,206 are clean energy buses, accounting for 94% of the total. In January 2021, Zhenqing Bus launched Qingdao’s first hydrogen energy bus route. Currently, there are 130 hydrogen buses in Qingdao West Coast New Area. Green public transport replaces approximately 100,000 private car trips each day, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 140,000 tons annually. Zhenqing Bus, whose vision is “green trip for harmonious coexistence”, has been contributing to achieving carbon emission peak and carbon neutrality, and strives to be a pacesetter of green development. The company has won titles such as “National Transportation Energy conservation and Emission Reduction Demonstration Enterprise”, “Enterprise Contributing to Low Carbon, Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection” and “National Advanced Unit”.
In addition, Zhenqing Bus worked with Qingdao TGOOD and built Qingdao’s first integrated electric bus charging station with “optical storage and charging” functions, which utilized the technology of solar photovoltaic power generation. The average annual power generation is about 109,000 kilowatts, saving about 100,000 kilowatts of electricity annually. It also saves 109,000 yuan of energy charge every year, which provides a driving range of 168,000 kilometers for new energy buses.
III. Promoting the Beautiful China Initiative to Highlight the Beauty of Landscape
As a hilly city featuring a winding coastline interspersed with islands and bays, Qingdao West Coast New Area is endowed with a pleasant climate and picturesque scenery. The Golden Beach, known as the No. 1 beach in Asia, Lingshan Island, the highest island in northern China, Tangdao Bay, known as the west lake in the sea, and the Lingshan Bay, a beautiful bay in China, coexist harmoniously and add to each other’s beauty.
In recent years, Qingdao West Coast New Area has taken measures in a coordinated and systematic manner to prevent and treat pollution. As a result, the quality of the environment has undergone steady improvement.
First, blue and clear skies have become the norm. A series of measures have been taken leading to steady improvement in air quality, including relocation of villages and enterprises in coal mining areas, dust reduction, traffic control, emission mitigation and afforestation. In 2022, the air quality was rated as “good” on over 86% of the days. A modern monitoring and control system was launched that is comprised of 136 air quality monitoring stations deployed throughout the district. Automatic navigation monitoring devices are installed on 70 taxis, 73 sets of VOCs online monitoring equipment are installed in 29 key enterprises, and 160 rubber tire manufacturers and surface coating enterprises participated in trial power monitoring of their production and pollution control facilities. West Coast New Area leads the rest of Qingdao in phasing out small coal-fired boilers with a capacity of less than 35 tons/hour, and promoting all 46 coal-fired boilers with a capacity of 35 tons/hour or above to complete ultra-low emission transformation. For years in a row, West Coast New Area has been ranking top in Qingdao in mitigated emissions of major pollutants.
Secondly, clear waters and lush banks have become a common sight. Effort is made to create a water environment featuring unclogged rivers, clear waters, lush river banks and beautiful scenery. Key surface water assessment sections comply with relevant standards. Smelly waters in urban built-up areas have been basically eliminated. Urban drainage has seen improvement. Surveys are conducted to identify problems on 46 rivers and 201 small and medium-sized reservoirs, targeted plans are made to address those problems and about 30% of all marine and riverine sewage outlets are duly inspected and treated. 18 rivers, such as the Juyang River and the Yanghe River, have been rated as exemplary beautiful rivers.
Thirdly, the soil environment has been kept safe and stable. A detailed investigation of the soil pollution status of 26 agricultural lands and 104 key industry enterprise lands was completed, and the quality classification of cultivated land on schedule. A list of suspected contaminated plots has been established and dynamically updated. The construction land access management has been strictly enforced. 456 plots have been investigated on their soil pollution status and reviewed by experts, and the safe utilization rate of key construction land remained 100%. The Development of a “waste-free city” is pursued, and Lingshan Island Provincial Nature Reserve and Qingdao Special Steel Co., Ltd. are guided in fulfilling “waste-free island” and “waste-free factor” criteria, creating a number of models.
Fourthly, rural areas have been made greener under joint efforts. By October 2023, domestic sewage treatment in 683 villages has been completed. The coverage of rural domestic waste classification facilities and harmless treatment has reached 100%. All black and odorous waters have been duly treated. Over the past years, fruitful results were made in the establishment of ecological civilization demonstration zones. Hongshiya Sub-district was included in the first batch of ecological civilization construction demonstration zones in Shandong Province in 2020. Zangma, Dacun and Haiqing Towns were selected as provincial green practice demonstration zones.
Qingdao West Coast New Area was established and thrives because of its maritime location. The sea is the most valuable asset of the district. Over the past years, continued effort was made to see that the sea, the bays and the islands were well protected and renovated and a Blue Bay Initiative was pursued. As a result, 100% of surfaces of nearshore marine water bodies were rated as of excellent quality for three years in a row, and Lingshan Bay was ranked top among the first batch of Beautiful Bays in China. The first smart marine management platform in China was built in Qingdao West Coast New Area, “marine environment protection” was piloted. Policies were issued on protecting the Liansan Island area, and Lingshan Island protection and improvement project was implemented. Besides, Qingdao West Coast New Area carried out coastal wetland carbon sequestration and sink enhancement activities, and took the lead in building a marine carbon sink demonstration zone. The UN Ocean Decade Collaborative Center on Ocean-Climate Nexus, the only one of its kind in Asia, was officially launched, and the Ocean Decade International Cooperation Center, the only one of its kind in China, was unveiled.
Lingshan Island and Tangdao Bay Wetland are excellent examples. Lingshan Island is China’s first carbon-negative island with diverse landforms and a vegetation coverage rate of 80%. Over past years, Qingdao West Coast New Area took the initiative to make Lingshan Island carbon-negative by reducing carbon sources and enhancing carbon sink. Specific measures taken include restoring agricultural land to forest, household clean energy heating renovation, “zero entry of fuel vehicles into the island” and full coverage of solar street lighting. This year, the Lingshan Island Natural Reserve has taken the lead in formulating the Work Plan for the Carbon Inclusive Mechanism, developed a WeChat applet, and carried out rewards points redeeming activities. Citizens and tourists can redeem their points for bottled water, canvas bags and solar power banks, among other eco-cultural products. The move was aimed to guide residents and tourists in developing green and low-carbon lifestyle habits. At present, there are 24 low-carbon point application scenarios such as “boarding the island by public boat”, “travelling by public transport” and “saving food”. Citizens and tourists can upload their activities and photos related to energy-saving and carbon reduction in all kinds of scenarios, win points after their uploads pass review, and redeem their points for ecological cultural and creative gifts at the “low-carbon stores”.
Tangdao Bay Wetland is a typical shallow sea area around the bay and mudflat wetland along the coast of northern China, which is rich in biodiversity. Professional assessment shows that the carbon sequestration capacity of soil, vegetation, and water resources in Tangdao Bay National Wetland Park hit nearly 200,000 tons, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 720,000 tons in total. A couple of years ago, the operation and management team of Tangdao Bay National Wetland Park was granted a low-interest loan of 20 million yuan. This carbon sink loan, which is intended specifically for the ecological protection and improvement in the wetland park through “entrusted payment” of the bank, acts as “flowing water” for wetland maintenance.
Qingdao West Coast New Area makes sure that ecological conservation, cultural advancement and economic development are integrated in an in-depth way. Standing at the starting point of the time-honored “Oriental Maritime Silk Road”, the district was where the ancient States of Qi and Yue flourished, where Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in dynastic China, made three visits, and where Xu Fu, the legendary alchemist, set sail eastward with his fleet in search of elixir of life. Rich heritage of varied cultural sources has been integrated to make the district what it is today – a splendid city of film, music, beer and conferences and exhibitions. Over 130 film and TV enterprises have been introduced to Qingdao Film and Television Base, and 120 works such as the Wandering Earth II have been produced there. This year’s Phoenix Music Festival welcomed 60,000 music aficionados and got over 1.6 billion views online. The 33rd Qingdao International Beer Festival hosted 6.17 million tourists. Qingdao West Coast New Area is listed as the Most Innovative and Dynamic Exhibition Area in China.
Qingdao West Coast New Area is a place with golden beaches, green fields, blue sea and azure sky. With the green and low-carbon development philosophy being branded on our landscape, the district has grown into a city of style that is liveable, pro-business and tourism-friendly. Qingdao West Coast New Area will continue to deeply implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, grasp the historical opportunity of building a green, low-carbon and high-quality development pilot area in Shandong, implement the ideas proposed in the District Ecological and Environmental Protection Conference, and accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of development methods. Qingdao West Coast New Area will develop into a pacesetter of ecological civilization, and contribute to building a powerful modern socialist province with Chinese characteristics in the new era.