Leaders stress environmental cooperation

An aerial photo of Sanjiangyuan National Park in Northwest China's Qinghai province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Foreign party officials say that China's experience offers valuable lessons

Leaders of political parties from different countries on Tuesday emphasized the importance of cooperation among nations to protect the ecological environment, saying that China has embarked on a modernization path that promotes harmony between humanity and nature.

Unlike the old path of dealing with the environment only after pollution had caused damage, the Chinese path led by the Communist Party of China can provide valuable lessons for other developing countries, they said.

The remarks were made at an event held in Xining, capital of Qinghai province, to showcase the province's achievements in implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. More than 150 representatives from political parties in about 30 countries attended the gathering.

Shankar Pokhrel, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), said that the global ecological crisis has become increasingly prominent due to accelerated economic activities and population growth.

"The CPC has always attached high importance to enhancing ecological conservation and has pursued a path of development featuring improved production, higher living standards and healthy ecosystems," he said, noting that a sound ecological environment is the most universally beneficial example of well-being.

Rana Ali Qaisar Khan, executive member of the Central Standing Committee of the National Party of Pakistan, said his impression of Qinghai changed completely after breathing the clean air upon his arrival at the airport.

Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at a high altitude, Qinghai has made notable progress in promoting ecological protection while seeking high-quality development in recent years.

"The intensity of pollution control efforts, the frequency of institutional development, the strictness of law enforcement and inspection, and the positive effects of environmental improvement (in Qinghai) are remarkable," Khan said.

Chrysanthos Georgiou, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyprus, said that after visiting China in person, his observations were different from what he had read previously in the European media.

He said he was impressed by China's extensive efforts in environmental protection, which he said were of great significance for the whole of humankind.

Official statistics showed that China has created the world's largest area of planted forests, with its forest coverage rate more than doubling from 12 percent in the early 1980s to over 24 percent last year.