The management of the chemical industry is the biggest challenge for the green development of the Yangtze River. Photo: FILE

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Recently, the Yangtze Conservation and Green Development Forum was held at Hohai University. Scholars at the forum called for all walks of society to commit to the protection of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River and promote its green development.

Zhang Jianyun, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development, said that the Yangtze River is an important source of water in China, nurturing the Chinese nation. A healthy ecosystem around the Yangtze contributes to the economic and social development of China. With this in mind, we must make the protection of the Yangtze River ecological system and its green development our a first priority.

The protection of the Yangtze River requires various approaches and disciplines in its strategy of development. In order to promote industrial restructuring, ecological protection, construction of transportation junctions and urban planning along the Yangtze River, Hohai University and Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute jointly established the Yangtze Institute for Conservation and Development. Tang Hongwu, secretary of the Party Committee of Hohai University, said that the institute will focus on water resources, water environments, water engineering and regional economies along the Yangtze River basin. They will also study essential theory and applied technology and cultivate relevant talent, providing intellectual support to promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Niu Xinqiang, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and dean of the Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research, said that we should take various factors such as ecological environmental protection, hydrological cycles, regulation of people and natural evolution into full consideration, and we should comprehensively examine ecological, production and living issues and their impacts on the basin. With complex problems and heavy tasks, the protection of the Yangtze River environment requires knowledge of many disciplines. It is necessary for multidisciplinary forces to cooperate and innovate to tackle key problems and provide scientific and technological support.

Cheng Changchun, dean of the Jiangsu Yangtze River Economic Belt Research Institute of Nantong University, said that the management of the chemical industry along the Yangtze River basin is the biggest challenge for high-quality development. The aforementioned management is an ecological pollution problem, but essentially, it also reflects the systemic and structural contradictions of the existing industrial system in the Yangtze River basin. To solve the chemical pollution, we must adhere to the combination of short-term palliative treatment and radical treatment and adopt both administrative and market means to build an effective mechanism of action. At the macro level, we must speed up the legislative process, improve the negative list and form a rigid constraint mechanism for the Yangtze River ecological environment. We must also highlight the leading role of planning and institute special plans for the green transformation of heavy chemical enterprises.

At the micro level, we should raise the professional level to handle chemical pollution management effectively, promote the third-party governance model, and advance the green transformation of the chemical industry with increased technological innovation.

Zhang said that when the protection and green development of the Yangtze River is referenced, first of all, it is necessary to ensure the objectives, priorities and measures of the protection of the Yangtze River, as well as the dialectical relationship between development and protection. Second, research should focus on aspects of water ecology, sustainable utilization of water resources, water engineering technology and green development strategies. In the study of the water ecology, research should be carried out on the health and other hazards caused by the pollution of water environments, the mechanism of formation and ecological benefits of aquatic ecosystems, and the environmental effects on water ecology caused by urbanization and ecological management. As for the sustainable use of water resources, we should study major issues such as the comprehensive utilization of the water and shoreline resources of the Yangtze River. In terms of strategic development, research should be conducted on the policies, systems, economy, legal system and culture related to the Yangtze River’s protection and development.