On April 24, the "Yangtze River Dialogue on Green Development" was held in Yichang, Hubei Province. Zheng Qingdong, President and Chief Editor of Economic Daily, attended and delivered a speech.
The full text is as follows:
Speech at the "Green Development Yangtze River Dialogue"
Zheng Qingdong
(April 24, 2024)
The most beautiful April day in the world. Today, we gather in Yichang, a city with mountains and rivers, to talk about the green development of the Yangtze River. On behalf of the sponsor Economic Daily, I would like to extend a warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to all the leaders and guests for their presence!
The Yangtze River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, and the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt concerns the overall development of the country. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has attached great importance to the protection of the Yangtze River. General Secretary Xi Jinping has presided over four symposiums and delivered important speeches to orient the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. From "promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt" to "deeply promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt", to "comprehensively promoting" and "further promoting" the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the work has been advanced step by step and the theme has been deepened again and again, reflecting the lofty strategic thinking, scientific development orientation, strong historical responsibility Sincere feelings for the people.
Six years ago, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Yichang to set the rules for the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, emphasizing "joint efforts to protect the Yangtze River and not engage in large-scale development", "putting ecological restoration of the Yangtze River first and protecting the mother river of the Chinese nation". Today, we are here to launch the "Dialogue on Green Development of the Yangtze River", which is to gather the wisdom of everyone, pool the strength of all parties, summarize practical experience, further strengthen the concept of "jointly focusing on major protection and not engaging in major development", promote relevant provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt to protect the ecological environment and develop new productivity, and on the basis of overall development and security, We will continue to make new progress in promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
First, greater efforts should be made on high-level protection. The Yangtze River has nurtured generations of Chinese people and five thousand years of Chinese civilization. Protecting this mother river and the river of life is the great plan of the Chinese nation. The general secretary's proposal of "jointly focusing on major protection and not engaging in major development" is enlightening, bearing profound changes in the development concept, and also promoting the continuous and gratifying changes in the appearance of the Yangtze River. Facts have proved that emphasizing the premise of great protection does not "pour cold water" on the development along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, but points out a new way. Next, we should also support high-quality development with high-level protection, improve the degree of green economic development, and better support and serve the modernization of the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
Second, we should adhere to innovation to lead development. The old will not go, the new will not come. Only by changing the traditional development model, exploring innovative development paths, devoting to cultivating and developing new quality productive forces, and accelerating the formation of new industrial clusters, can we achieve the goal of changing the cage into a new bird and nirvana. In this regard, the General Secretary has specifically mentioned the experience and practice of Yichang, which is to cultivate fine chemical production capacity by taking advantage of the new space vacated by the old driving force, guide the chemical industry to high-end development, and take on a new look in economic development. Practice has proved that as long as consistent and solid promotion, innovative development is promising. The Yangtze River economy has advantages in scientific research and talents. We can win new development advantages by accelerating the upgrading of the industrial base and the modernization of the industrial chain, breaking through a number of key core technologies, and actively laying out new fields and new tracks.
Third, we should strengthen regional coordinated and harmonious development. It is difficult to grasp the great protection together in the word of "communism". We are soberly aware that there are still many problems in the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, especially the problems of disorderly and inefficient competition and industrial isomorphism. Without effective ecological environment coordinated governance, it is difficult to meet the requirements of the integrity management of the whole Yangtze River basin. We believe that the provinces and cities along the Yangtze River should, in accordance with the requirements of joint discussion, governance, construction and sharing, further promote the connectivity of transportation facilities, speed up the removal of institutional barriers that hinder the free flow of factors, especially high-end innovative factors, and strive to build the Yangtze River Economic Belt into an organically integrated and efficient economy.
Fourth, we should coordinate development and security. The Yangtze River Economic Belt is of vital importance to the overall situation. It is necessary to coordinate development and security, play a greater role in safeguarding national food security, energy security, supply chain security of important industrial chains, water security, etc., and strive to make new contributions to the "overall security" with the "stability of one region", so as to provide a strong guarantee for the Chinese style modernization. At the same time, it is necessary to establish a strong risk awareness and bottom line thinking, and effectively improve the ability to prevent and resolve security risks.
The great river flows forever. On the new journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, Mother River is pregnant with vigorous strength and contains endless hope. Facing the future, how to speed up the formation of new quality productivity, how to strengthen the overall joint force of "great protection", and how to promote the development of "one game of chess" are all important issues that need us to brainstorm and think deeply. As a central news agency and an important public opinion position for the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to guide economic work, the Economic Daily has the responsibility to play its due role in this major strategy. We are willing to work with all parties to build the Yangtze River Economic Belt into a golden economic belt with more beautiful ecology, smoother transportation, more coordinated economy, more unified market and more scientific mechanism.
