On May 24th, the Public Civilization Guidance and Coordination Office of Beijing Dongcheng District sent a pennant to the International Ecological Economic Promotion Association (IEEPA) to express its gratitude for the donations and supportive work during the anti-COVID19 period.

Prior to this, the Publicity Department of Dongcheng District Committee and the Public Civilization Guidance and Coordination Office sent a letter to appreciate the supportive work and contribution of the IEEPA in the fight against the COVID-19.

(The pennant printed with the follow words: To the IEEPA: Your kind commonweal deeds spreads love and co-builds the wall to defend the epidemic )

"We sincerely thank the IEEPA! Your deeds have profoundly interpreted the anti-epidemic spirit and sense of social responsibility. Virus has no mercy, but humans do. The secretary and director of Dongcheng Public Civilization Guidance and Coordination Office visited the IEEPA office, and sent the pennant to the Administrative Director of the IEEPA and praised the work of the IEEPA in person. 

Dongcheng District Public Civilization guidance and coordination office is mainly responsible for the civilized guidance, personnel inspection and order management and control of public places such as traffic intersections, school surroundings, parks, etc. it is one of the most important civilization-window department in Beijing, and manages more than 700 Public Civilization Guides. Since the COVID-19 prevention and control work began, the Coordination Office has mobilized resources to the greatest extent under the overall arrangement of the Publicity Department of the District Committee and closely cooperated with various epidemic prevention deployments, becoming an important force for epidemic prevention and control.

The Publicity Department of Dongcheng District Committee sent a letter of appreciation, and the Civilization Guidance Office of Dongcheng District government sent a pennant

Volunteers and Representatives from International Ecological Economy Promotion Association and Beijing Emergency Medical Center at the donation ceremony in Beijing 

Wuhan in Hubei Province, central China, cleared all novel coronavirus cases in hospitals on April 26. Beijing, however, still faces the daunting task of preventing the further spread of the virus through imported cases.

The Beijing Emergency Medical Center has been working on transferring patients from airports and railway stations since January 12. It has transferred 98 percent of COVID-19 patients in Beijing, Zhang Wenzhong, director of the center, said.

With this in mind, the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Beijing, donated an ambulance to the medical center on April 23. The ambulance, equipped with a negative pressure purification system, is also known as a mobile isolation ward.

Representatives from International Ecological Economy Promotion Association and Beijing Emergency Medical Center hold a discussion after the donation ceremony in Beijing on April 23

"Although IEEPA is a non-profit organization with limited financial resources, it would like to do its part in the battle against the pandemic and provide more support to safeguard people's health and safety," Hao Jiming, director of the organization and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the donation ceremony.

Since the outbreak, the IEEPA has taken concrete actions to raise money and purchase medical supplies such as disinfectant equipment, face masks and protective gloves, delivering them to Wuhan and Yidu in Hubei, the worst-hit province. Some supplies have also been given to community workers who comprise the front line of defense in Beijing.

Also, staff from the organization volunteered to help communities in Beijing fulfill their daily prevention and control work over the past months, Li Junyang, deputy head of the IEEPA, said. Volunteers assisted with the registration of residents and the monitoring of body temperature in several communities.

Young Volunteer, Li Ziqi, a grade-2 student in Beijing 

After learning about the donation activity, Ziqi Li believed that the ambulance was a key material to fight against the epidemic. Therefore, accompanied by her parents with necessary protective measures, she went to the donation site on time. After learning some basic knowledge of the ambulance, under the guidance of the staff, she helped paste the relevant slogans and handed over the instructions of the ambulance to the relevant medical staff. The staff who participated in this activity praised her, "This child is very polite. She is also very responsible for his work and meticulously patient. 

A Beijing Young Volunteer Participates in Anti-COVID19 Charity Activity and Guards the City's Public Health Safety

Against the COVID-19. Our love around the world!

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

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 November 19, 2019, Mr. Li Junyang, Vice-President of the IEEPA, met with H.E. Dr. Friedrich Stift, Ambassador of Austria to China.

Mr. Li Junyang welcomed Ambassador Friedrich Stift to the Association, reviewing the long-term friendly exchanges between the Association and the Austrian Embassy in China, including the joint hosting of the Ambassador's High-level Dinner, the China-EU Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Technology Business Seminar and other activities. Especially mentioned was the recently published article by Dr. Hao Jiming, the President of the IEEPA,  entitled "Drivers of improved PM2.5 air quality in China from 2013 to 2017" assessing the improvement and health outcomes of atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5) pollution in China between 2013 and 2017, and quantitatively analyzing the contribution of the policies of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan to air quality improvement.

Mr. Li Junyang pointed out that at present China is facing many changes in the external environment, such as the unity between economic development and environmental governance, and it is an important topic for IEEPA as well. In China’s coastal cities that enjoy favorable economic development, funding is sufficient. Therefore, they are advantaged in this co-development. However, this improvement often means that the “backward” or undeveloped areas of China are ignored, particularly environmental governance in the cities of central and western China. These third- and fourth-tier cities are very rough in their management and require a lot of technology and advanced managerial expertise which is a good opportunity for future cooperation between Austrian and Chinese enterprise. 

In addition, Mr. Li Junyang said that he welcomes the Austrian side and their government officials, entrepreneurs and scholars to visit the Association's member enterprises. Through IEEPA as a platform, China and Austria can put into practice exchanges and cooperation in the field of energy conservation and in the environmental protection industry.

Ambassador Friedrich Stift thanked Mr. Li Junyang for the meeting. Recalling his work in Beijing from 2002 to 2004, he praised the fact that the environment in various parts of China has improved considerably compared with a decade ago, thanks not only to the implementation of the Chinese government's good environmental policies, but also to the support of social organizations like IEEPA. He said that Austria in the 1960s and 1970s pollution was very serious concern, and due to the Austrian people’s appeals, the government actively undertook and continues to undertake measures and related enterprises were making use of environmental protection technology. Since then, the ecological environment of Austria has been greatly improved, and the Austrian government and enterprises are happy to share this experience.

On the corporate side, Ambassador Friedrich Stift singled out an Austrian company that makes kitchen waste oil into biofuel after proper treatment. The company has already invested in Anhui, but a major challenge is the recycle of waste oil. Mr. Li Junyang pointed out that to solve the recycling problem, the prerequisite is the construction of pipelines, which needs huge investment. At present, there are many new residential areas in China equipped with special kitchen pipes for centralized treatment, which is a good solution to problems of collection. However, in many old neighborhoods, a large amount of money is required for pipes renovation, so the support of governments is necessary.  

In addition, Ambassador Friedrich Stift said that the Austrian People's Party and the Green Party will formally start cabinet consultations that, once agreed, will allow the Green Party to enter the Austrian ruling coalition for the first time, a scenario that will also greatly promote the development of environmental protection in Austria. For this, Mr. Li Junyang believes that the voice of the masses is very important. It is with the invisible force of mass desire for environmental governance that one of China's eight parties, the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, have been able to significantly contribute to China’s pace of improvement, with regard to the environment by including ecological environment management into the constitution, as well as improving in areas related to matters of health, as the environment and people’s health is closely related. 

Ambassador Friedrich Stift stressed that there are also many non-governmental organizations in Austria dedicated to promoting eco-economic development, and they also hope to work with Chinese organizations with a common vision to exchange and share their best practices, give full play to the strength of social organizations and promote the development of the eco-economic industry. Finally, Ambassador Friedrich Stift expressed his hope to maintain a close tie with IEEPA and do practical work for the energy conservation and environmental protection of both Austria and China.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Ni Xiaojing, IEEPA Expert and Deputy-director Counselor of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Li Junyang meets with H.E. Dr. Friedrich Stift, Austrian Ambassador to China

In order to respond positively to the work of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on further optimizing the business environment, it is necessary to support the high-quality development of the enterprises in the Xiong'an New Area, conduct in-depth investigations into the difficulties of enterprises under the current economic situation, and further strengthen the support for the development of enterprise. The International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) led the Xiong'an New Area private enterprise research group, which included SASAC party committee inspection cadres, State Council counsellors, members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and other expert leaders. In attendance were 

, vice-minister of the State-Owned Assets Supervision, Administration Commission of the State Council and head of the Inspection Group of the Party Committee, 

, former deputy-director of the State Council Counselor's Office, 

, counselor of the State Council and researcher of the Ministry of Agriculture; 

academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, director of the Institute of Logistics Science and Technology of the Rocket Army, Major General; 

, Executive Vice-President of the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association; 

, Deputy-director of the European Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and 

former Deputy Inspector of the National Development and Reform Commission Office. Along with the aforementioned leaders, relevant ministries and media outlets visited to attend the Xiong'an New Area Enterprise Development Symposium held in the Xiong'an New Area Citizen Service Center, which is also the headquarters of the China Agricultural Development Bank, Baidu Xiong'an Subsidiary and Kerong Environmental Technology Co. Limited.

At the symposium on enterprise development, private enterprises introduced their developments, and reported on the problems and difficulties encountered in reality. State Council Counselor Mr. Liu Zhiren hopes that more environmental characteristics of enterprise can enter the Xiong'an New Area, and that with a large number of ecological environment enterprises, Xiong'an New Area can be environmentally sustainable. He notes that it is not possible for the government to publicize the area alone, and that effective landing measures need to be undertaken for enterprise. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council strongly support enterprise development, especially private enterprises, and believe that Xiong'an New Area can take better measures to support enterprise development. Counselor Mr. Liu Zhiren hopes that through this symposium and Xiong'an's direct establishment of contact between enterprises, the State Council listen to the voice of Xiong'an entrepreneurs. 

Dr. Hou Li'an, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, spoke of three points. First, he notes that the development of Xiong'an New Area will likely face problems that require solving, such as green production and the environment. With this brings the business opportunities of environmental protection enterprise, which entrepreneurs should take the opportunity to seize. 

Second, enterprises should train high-end talent, have the ability to form some independent intellectual property rights of patented technology to ensure product quality, in addition to having the technology available to adapt to the requirements of high-quality development of Xiong'an New Area. Third, enterprises already based in or those coming to Xiong'an New Area should have a strategic vision, initially at the local-level and then the world. This will require ambition and determination.

Mr. Li Junyang, the vice-president of the International Eco-Economic Association and a senior researcher at Tsinghua University's Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, believes that there are six potential market directions for the development of enterprises in Xiong'an New Area. First, the systematic and integrated management of water quality through environmental management. The ecological advantage of the Baiyangdian Wetland in Xiong'an New Area will establish a dynamic management system. Second, by making full use of ecological resources through the expansion of ecological resources development and utilization, the future of Xiong'an New Area will be another “Golden Mountain Silver Mountain.” Third, the Xiong'an New Area can establish a new set of all-intelligent systems, including traffic and smart lights, routes, landmarks, and gradually all sections of the road. It can then promote the establishment of such a model throughout the country and even as the world's leading green low-carbon intelligent transportation system. Fourth, the Xiong'an New Area can provide the lead in the establishment of green low-carbon building. The construction of various types of buildings, energy-saving low-carbon technology and green building materials can be combined to create a new type of green low-carbon intelligent buildings. In the process, measures are to be taken to reuse the materials from the old buildings and promote the development of a circular economy. Fifth, the future of design lies in waste-free, low-carbon, smart eco-cities through the organic combination of planning and design. Sixth, the Xiong'an New Area is fully capable to apply the world's leading information technology now through the application of cutting-edge information technology, such as taking the lead in the deployment of 5G and being the first test for activating the world's cutting-edge information technology innovations, such 6G or even 7G technology applications.

The experts and scholars of the Xiong'an New Area Enterprise Development Symposium made five suggestions and appeals for the high-quality development of the Xiong'an New Area. First, in order to support the development of residential enterprise, support should first protect the enterprise’s sense of access to policy. Second, if enterprises in Xiong'an New Area develop well, Xiong'an will develop well. Therefore the market economy requires that enterprise have legitimate rights and interests, and that these rights are protected. Third, the Xiong'an New Area should be inclusive of all types of enterprise development. The development and construction of the Xiong'an New Area cannot be regarded as the interests of the Area and the resident enterprises only as it can formulate relevant enterprise standards to the whole society. Enterprises stationed in the Xiong'an New Area can support the development of other enterprises outside of the Area. A fourth appeal is the improvement of the human environment. Ecological civilization is the guiding principle in the construction of the human environment in the Xiong'an New Area. If basic facilities are not developed or the Area is overwhelmed, word-of-mouth will likely be negative. However, if the human experience in the Area is better, for instance the opportunity to go sightseeing in the Baiyangdian wetlands, people will come to Xiong'an. Fifth, the Xiong'an New Area needs to be proactive in showing the advantages and opportunities to all sectors of the community. From the news, the advantages of the area are unclear. Furthermore, the creation of a new area is in itself not enough but a market-oriented mechanism for coordination is also needed.

The symposium aims to strongly support the development of enterprises in the Xiong'an New Area, especially the development of high-end science and technology industry which will promote the development of a new era in China's economy, in addition to environmentally sustainable and high-quality development of the national model.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the need to establish a new, official and "clean" type of political and business relations that resolutely put an end to inaction and “one-size-fits-all” approaches. Enterprises and governments need to interact, approach, and promote each other in order to reach common ground. The symposium reiterated the call for the support of enterprises to implement various policies, and that governments should speak for entrepreneurs and effectively enhance the sense of enterprise acquisition.

Symposium Held by IEEPA to Investigate Business Environment in Xiong'an New Area

On October 19, 2019, the National Academician Symposium on High Quality Development of Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry was held in Beijing, co-sponsored by the International Ecological Economic Association (IEEPA), China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Legal Daily, Tsinghua University's Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, and Nankai University's School of Environmental Science and Engineering. In attendance was 

, President of the International Ecological Economy Association;

, Chinese Academy of Engineering, former Vice President of the State Council, Director of "no waste city" construction committee; 

, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Deputy Chief of State Work Safety Technology Expert Team, Chairman of the IEEPA Committee of Green Mining;

, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; 

 Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; 

, Counselor of the State Council and other guests. Leading experts from relevant ministries and research institutions, such as Tsinghua University, Peking University and Nankai University, also attended the meeting and spoke on the basis of industrial and enterprise development cases.

The symposium noted that, in order for the central government and the State Council to formulate various policies to support enterprise development, it is necessary for the relevant ministries to establish the implementation of results tracking and review mechanisms. 

In his speech, President Hao Jiming stressed that all sectors of the community should actively appeal and help entrepreneurs to grow, as well as promote the implementation of government policies so that enterprises know that policies are carried out rather than just put on paper, especially due to the existence of behaviors like inaction or indiscriminate one-size-fits-all solutions. In developing a high-quality business environment, entrepreneurs are able to grow confident in addition to having the energy to focus on improving management capabilities within competitive industry environments. Such developments do well to aid and achieve social-economic and high-quality industrial development.

President Hao Jiming also pointed out that the future growth trajectory of China’s economy is reliant on high-quality development of strategic emerging industries, and even as the first of China’s seven strategic emerging industries, energy conservation and environmental protection has encountered difficulties even when showing a good development trend. He noted that in order to promote the high-quality development of China’s energy saving and environmental protection industry, there is a need for innovation with regard to systems and mechanisms, further exertion on social forces, increased support for scientific and technological innovation with business as the main body, and the encouragement of entrepreneurs to continuously cultivate and promote new technologies and products in the energy-saving and environment protection industry. “Green” should be the universal standard of the state and society.

Mr Shao Bingfang, Party Secretary and President of the Legal Daily, stressed that in the course of the current process of national economic transformation and high-quality development, the creation of a business environment based on the law needs to be further strengthened. In order to make the business environment more attractive and secure, the rule should be used to regulate the boundary between the government and market, to enhance the respect of the laws of the market economy, and to set up a protective net for all kinds of industry within the protection of the law.

Mr Xu Xiaomin, Secretary of the Party Committee of China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), said in his speech that discussion of the development of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry is common, and that the symposium is not only an opportunity to consolidate consensus on the topic but also embody "lucid water and lush mountain are invaluable assets". 

Mr Zhao Hualin, Vice-Minister of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, pointed out that the state's policy support and the acknowledgement of society as a whole will provide a good environment to develop energy-saving and environmental protection industries. He noted that the energy-saving and environmental protection industry is a future profit and growth opportunity, which will not deter or turn someone away. Instead, full consideration should be given to difficulties faced by private enterprise so as to assist them in making greater contributions to the country’s ecological environment. 

Mr Liu Zhiren, State Council Counselor and Mr Che Shujian, researcher also noted that in conditions of economic downturn, the business environment can become increasingly difficult for enterprise, and although the policies are unprecedented favourable, policy implementation is too hard to launch but have to be made a higher priority.

Mr Wu Yin, Researcher in the Counselor’s Office of the State Council, former Deputy Director of the State Energy Administration and Member of the CPC, stressed the need to increase the development ambitions of entrepreneurs, which Mr Xi Jinping, President of China, clearly noted as important to the development of the country. Only by sharing the five development concepts, particularly innovation, coordination, green, and openness, among governments in order to develop and implement policy, it will the confidence of entrepreneurs be boosted.

Mr Li Junyang, Vice President of the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association, made it clear that the symposium, hold jointly by academicians and counselor, invited "China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group Co., Ltd." to represent state-owned enterprise, and "Xiong'an Kerong Environmental Technology Co., Ltd."on behalf of private enterprise, to conduct a case report. Academicians and counselor in particular stressed the need to find the root cause of the problem in the analysis of economic and industrial problems, especially in the current economic situation, so private enterprises develop confidence and at the same time carry out feasible help at the community level to make a difference. Mr Li Junyang also suggested that relevant ministries should establish a mechanism for tracking and reviewing the results of implementation to establish practical safeguards, enhance the sense of enterprises to be able to rely on policies, and accelerate the promotion of energy-saving and environmental protection industries towards high-quality development.

Mr Li Junyang believes that the development of enterprise is facing problems and difficulties such as industrial transformation, capital and market turmoil, but among them the biggest problem is the issue of enterprises confidence. He states that it is difficult to solve the problems of the external environment without solving the problem of confidence first. 

The 2019 State Council government work report gives entrepreneurs confidence in their development, clearly stating that the relevant systems should be reformed and improved to promote both high-quality development and ecological environment protection. At the same time, it is clearly stated that fair regulation promotes fair competition. Resolute and repeated inspection is necessary. The regulator should also strengthen supervision, establish rules, never allow selective law enforcement, and never allow for difficult enterprises.

Mr Li Junyang further pointed out that the energy-saving and environmental protection industry as the first of China's seven strategic emerging industries is to build high-quality economic development and ecological environment protection. However, facing with industry management irregularities as well as the implementation of non-standardized policy, the state’s attention and support to enterprise development is missing. Although efforts to improve shortcomings exist, the current societal need for ecological environment governance and improvement will continue to grow. This new need has contributed to the development of the energy-saving and environmental protection industry and industrial technology innovation, but this need will continue to grow and then high-quality development must achieve. 

Mr Yu Honghui, CEO of China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group Co., Ltd. and Deputy Secretary of CECEP’ Party Committee, said in the report that as general manager of a state-owned enterprise in the industrial front-line, he found that the construction waste in environmental infrastructure is very serious. He found that in the end it is difficult to achieve systematic results and suggested the adherence of market-oriented operation, respect for the status of enterprises, the creation of a good market environment, the active cultivation of sustainable business models and the focusing on solving outstanding problems face in the development of energy-saving and environmental protection industry. Furthermore, he suggested finding solutions to environmental development problems and the promotion of China’s high-quality economic development.  

This year, the A-stock market has maintained stable operation and is expected to continue to do so even with potential risks existing in the market. In order to support the high-quality development of private enterprises, on 8th November 2018, Xi Jinping, President of China, made it clear in his speech that we should continue to create a favorable environment for the private economy, help the private enterprise economy, solve the difficulties in development, and support the reform and development of private enterprises. On 10th September 10, 2019, the CSRC deepened the suggestions to put forward by the capital market reform symposium: pinpoint the risk of key areas, firmly control the increment, effectively resolve the stock.

Xiong'an Kerong Environmental Science and Technology noted at the symposium that in the development of private enterprise, opportunity and challenge always coexist. Presently great importance is attached by the Party Central Committee, the State Council and various ministries on fair competition for private enterprises in the business environment, as is the importance as solutions to potential risks, so that enterprises relying on the development trend of energy-saving and environmental protection industry are able to create and further strengthen a high-quality enterprise, in addition to listed companies achieve returns to their shareholders and obligations to their communities on the basis of community development and trust.

After the meeting, the symposium will collect the speeches and business research materials of the participating experts. "The National Academician Symposium on High Quality Development of Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry", to send to the State Council and relevant ministries for advising to the state and government high-level.

The National Academician Symposium on High Quality Development of Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry

On October 16th, 2019, Mr. K.R. Subramanian, CEO of the China India Foundation (CIF), with the support of the Indian Embassy in Beijing, was received by Mr. Li Junyang for the purpose of a joint exchange regarding China-India non-governmental organization cooperation. Accompanying the meeting was Mr Ni Xiaojing, member of the IEEPA’s expert committee and Deputy-director Counselor of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two sides spoke of the establishment of academic exchanges between the countries, particularly the selection criteria of scholars participating in the exchange, and the signing of memorandums of understanding and cooperation. 

Mr. K.R. Subramanian began by giving a brief introduction of the China-India Foundation (CIF), a non-profit charitable organization that aims to promote mutual understanding between the Indian and Chinese people’s by creating a platform for cooperation, building people-to-people exchanges, and enhancing cross-cultural communication. He hopes that the Foundation will work with the Association to create business-to-business and people-to-people exchange projects that culminate in the discovery of new knowledge, the sharing of best practices and the creation of a healthy environment for cross-border cooperation.

Mr. Li Junyang extended a warm welcome to Mr. Subramanian, and stated that as both China and India are large developing countries with many opportunities for cooperation in the future, and that the establishment of the China-India Foundation is very prescient. It is hoped that the two sides will build pragmatic and deep-seated cooperation, such as jointly formulating a budget, jointly financing a long-term collaborative research project, publishing scientific research results, jointly promoting win-win development in the fields of environment, energy, electronic information, cultural tourism and mining, so as to truly put exchanges between the two peoples and enterprises into practice.

Mr. Ni Xiaojing also expressed the hope that through the use of his years of diplomatic experience, he would be able to assist in the promotion and development of cooperation and exchange projects between the two sides to contribute their own strengths.

China-India Foundation CEO Visits IEEPA to Discuss Collaboration

On October 11th, 2019, Mr. Li Junyang and his team were invited to the Legal Daily where he, Shao Bingfang, CPC Secretary and President of the Legal Daily, and Zhang Guoqing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Legal Daily, discussed the joint hosting of the National Academician Symposium on High Quality Development of Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Industry. The director of the Economic and Media Department of the Legal Daily accompanied the talks. 

Mr. Li Junyang pointed out that due to the current difficulties experienced by enterprise, such as industrial transformation, capital, market turmoil and other issues, the academic symposium was necessary and urgent. IEEPA has professional resources in production, learning and research, and makes suggestions through in-depth research of problems encountered by enterprises in the process of high-quality industrial development. By actively disseminating positive energy to society through the judicial media, the true problems of business and the rule of law can be reflected, which therefore strengthens the confidence of entrepreneurs. Mr. Shao Bingfang expressed the processes by which the IEEPA and Legal Daily can work together and the ways in which the symposium can be considered of greater importance. He believes that the core of the business environment is the rule of law and that the strengthening of the rule of law to promote productivity is an inevitable trend. The symposium was therefore held at the right time, responding to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call that “the rule of law is the best business environment”.

The rule of law for the development of the business environment will be vigorously publicized in the newspapers, networks and new media platforms of the Legal Daily. The IEEPA and Legal Daily agree to strengthen cooperation and exchange, and plan to implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s speech at the Private Economic Symposium: "to continuously create a favorable environment for the development of the private economy, to help the private enterprise economy, to solve the difficulties in development, and to support the reform and development of private enterprises."

IEEPA and Legal Daily to implement the spirit of Xi Jinping's speech at the Private Entrepreneurs Seminar by jointly organizing an academician symposium

On October 10, 2019, H.E. Mr. Acquino Vimal, Deputy Director of the Indian Embassy in China, and Ms. J Snehaja, Economic and Business Secretary, visited the International Ecological Economy Promotion Association (IEEPA) to discuss China and India. For the purpose of ecological economy development and opportunities for future cooperation, Mr. Li Junyang, Vice President of IEEPA met with the delegation, as did Mr. Ni Xiaojing, member of the expert committee of IEEPA and Deputy Director of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two sides exchanged proposals on future cooperation

H.E. Mr. Acquino Vimal expressed his gratitude to vice-president Mr Li Junyang for his reception and visit, and hoped to understand the ecological environment and economic development model of the "China model", as well as put forward relevant suggestions on the future cooperation between India and IEEPA, such as actively calling for Indian universities to increase the direct learning interface between Chinese universities, in addition to increasing the learning opportunities of Indian scholars for the coordinated development of China's ecological environment and economy. He also spoke of the need for the building of joint economic cooperation between Indian and Chinese companies, especially in the field of ecological environment. He further expressed the hope to learn from the past experience of the association and actively carry out cooperation projects at the embassy-level to jointly present the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India in 2020.

Mr Li Junyang expressed his appreciation for the relevant suggestions made by H.E. Mr Acquino Vimal, believing it to be a very pragmatic visit and exchange. He recalled that the Indian Embassy has participated in many international conferences and events hosted by IEEPA and introduced the case of how China's economy and environment, with his many years of work experience, can achieve harmonious and sustainable development. Mr Li Junyang believes that the two sides should strengthen cooperation mechanisms and promote and strengthen civil cooperation between China and India through various channels, such as government and non-governmental organizations. The joint dialogue between high-level political, business and academic circles will effectively promote economic and environmental cooperation in the two countries, and will also help enterprises of the two countries to establish a broader cooperation channel through the Indian Embassy in China.

Based on his many years of diplomatic experience, Mr Ni Xiaojing, Deputy Director talked about his understanding and vision of China-India cooperation in the field of ecological and economic development, and hoped that through his own efforts, he will further promote the cooperation mechanism between the IEEPA and India, and contribute to this important change.

Mr. Li Junyang meets with Dr. Acquino Vimal, Deputy Chief of Mission of Indian Embassy

On September 21, 2019, during the World Economic and Environmental Conference, Dr. Hao Jiming, IEEPA President and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Mr. Liu Xiaofeng, Vice Chairman of the 12th CPPCC National Committee and former Executive Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants and Works Demoncratic Party, met with Hon. C. T. Cedric, IEEPA Senior Foreign Advisor and Chairman of the National Assembly of South Africa, Mr. Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister and General Secretary of the Democratic Party of Italy, Mr. Mariano Rajoy Brey, former Prime Minister and current member of the House of Representatives of Spain. Mr. Liu Zhiren, counselor of the State Council and Mr. Li junyang, IEEPA Exectuive Vice-President, attended the meeting.

Mr. Liu Xiaofeng congratulated the convening of the Conference and welcomed the presence of foreign dignitaries from Italy, Spain and South Africa. President Hao Jiming congratulated the former leaders of Italy and Spain on their appointment as the Vice President of the Academic Presidium of the World Economic and Environmental Conference, in the hope to further promote the cooperation between China and Italy, Spain and South Africa. He also would like to take this opportunity to gain more support so as to co-build an international investment and exchange platform for ecological industries and promote economic prosperity and sustainable environmental development by maximizing the role of IEEPA.

Hon. Frolick said that South Africa is facing the huge challenges of inequality, poverty and unemployment. These three interdependent social and economic phenomena are called "triple challenges" in South Africa. He hoped to build a high-end international activity platform through the IEEPA to learn from the high-quality development models of the world's economy and environment, so as to achieve more balanced development. He also welcomed delegates from China, Italy, Spain to visited South Africa.

Mr. Matteo Renzi and Mr. Mariano Rajoy Brey spoke highly of the contribution of the IEEPA of promoting the sustainable development of ecology and economy. They showed the full support to IEEPA in successfully holding the World Economic and Environmental Conference, and also expressed their willingness to strengthen exchanges with the IEEPA to fully explore the potential of eco-economic and trade, investment, science and technology cooperation, and further expand cultural and academic exchanges.

Mr. Li junyang attended the meeting and briefed the Italian and Spainish political leaders on the international exchanges and cooperation carried out by the IEEPA. He said that IEEPA adheres to the orientation of "based in Beijing and facing the world", attaches great importance to giving full play to the power of social organizations and carrying out international cooperation and exchanges. At present, it has established friendly and cooperative relations with many government departments, academic institutions and international organizations around the world. He hoped to further strengthen cooperation with Italy and Spain with the support and participation of political figures of all countries, and was willing to launch a delegation of member enterprises to visit the aforementioned countries and promote cooperation.

Dr. Hao Jiming and Mr. Liu Xiaofeng meet with Italian, Spanish and South African Leaders

On September 22, 2019, vice-president Li Junyang of the IEEPA, Senior Foreign Consultant of the Council and Chairman of the First Affairs of the South African National Assembly, Cedric Thomas Frolick, and Ni Xiaojing, of the European Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, went to Beijing New Building Materials Group Co., Ltd. for an official visit. The group were warmly received by Wang Bing, chairman of Beijing New Building Materials, and others, and were taken on a visit to the new building materials exhibition hall. They also attended the international ecological innovation green technology development exchange meeting held by Beijing New Building Materials Group.

Mr. Florick talked about the current form of energy in South Africa, stating that their main use of fuel is coal. After visiting the high-performance green building system of Beijing New Building Materials, he was greatly encouraged and believed that even in South Africa new technologies from Beijing New Building Materials can be implemented throughout, especially the recycling of waste from coal combustion, which will play a key role in South Africa’s commitment to energy saving and emission reduction at the UN Climate Conference.

Vice-president Li Junyang spoke of three thoughts and three actions during the discussion. His first thought was thought was that Beijing Building Materials, as a leading enterprise in environmental protection and energy-saving materials, has a lot of room for future development. Second, Beijing New Building Materials focuses on hard work and rich scientific research results. Finally, the establishment of the academician workstation has greatly promoted the research and development of science and technology. Beijing New Building Materials has an excellent leading role in the industry for the conversion of scientific research into market results. Li Junyang’s three-point action was, first, that the current national ministries and commissions build a national-level green technology transformation platform to help enterprise transform ecological research and technological achievements into market applications with Beijing New Building materials particularly having the ability and strength to take this opportunity to further promote the transformation of scientific research results into mature products and promote them to the market. Second, at the international level, the IEEPA platform can be used to enhance the cooperation and cooperation within foreign political, academic and business circles. Thirdly, to build a bridge for international cooperation for enterprises to “go global”, the necessary tasks are to realise the integration of politics, production, learning and business, and actively promote the high-quality development of China's energy-saving and environmental protection industry by further strengthening the construction of academician workstations at the level of exchange and cooperation, introducing more academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and by uniting the relevant government departments.

Counselor Ni Xiaojing stated that China, as a big country, that economic development was not an easy development to its present stage. Beijing New Building Materials plays a leading role in enterprises, and it has strict standards in terms of innovation and environmental protection. Additionally, he is able to recognise the regional eco-economic innovation and development of the European states as he is resident there. For instance, the Finnish paper industry doesn’t use trees from the Brazilian rainforest, but rather from sustainable ecological areas. Additionally, Chinese manufacturing, especially in the construction industry, is also a major responsibility for Beijing New Building Materials.

Hon. C.T. Frolick Invited to Beijing New Building Materials Group for an Official Visit, Accompanied by Mr Li Junyang

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.