What is the current construction status of Mentougou, Beijing, which proposed the "ecological zone establishment" strategy?

"We firmly practice the 'Two Mountains Theory', and the background of green development continues to be beautiful." On September 2, the Beijing City Government Information Office held a series of press conferences themed "Welcoming the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" special session in Mentougou District. Lu Chenfei, Deputy Secretary of the Mentougou District Committee and District Mayor of Beijing City, said this at the meeting.

Map provided by the People's Government of Mentougou District

Guided by the development of the capital in the new era, Mentougou District of Beijing City firmly implements the "ecological district establishment" strategy, adheres to green and high-quality transformation and development, and strives to create a new situation in building the capital's West Gate at a high level.

The diversity, stability and sustainability of ecosystems continue to increase

"Beijing was once the hometown of the North China leopard. However, since 1992, there has been no accurate information on leopard activities in Beijing for more than 30 years." At the press conference, Lu Chenfei's story of the North China leopard attracted attention.

In order to bring the North China leopard, which has been missing for decades, back to its "home" in Beijing, Mentougou District relies on the Baihuashan National Nature Reserve, known as the "North China Natural Botanical Garden", to launch the "Welcome the leopard home" plan. According to expert assessment, the nature reserve currently has a complete habitat for North China leopard to survive.

Mentougou's efforts to protect biodiversity are by no means limited to this. The national-level protected plant "Baihua Mountain Grapes", dozens of national-level protected animals such as black storks and gold eagles, and many rare animals and plants have been systematically protected.

2022-2023 In 2000, Mentougou District conducted a background survey on biodiversity throughout the district, recording a total of 4266 species of various groups (excluding bryotes). Some groups account for a large proportion in the city, including many ecological health indicator species such as broadfin fish and horseoufish.

Quan Zhanjun, member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, told reporters that Mentougou District maintains the most important ecological functions and services. Mentougou is located in the ecological conservation area of the capital, closest to the central Urban area, and the effectiveness of ecological management serves the capital's functions most directly. At the same time, Mentougou is also an important ecological protection belt for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, building the last key barrier for dust prevention in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.

In recent years, the diversity, stability and sustainability of the ecosystem in Mentougou District have been continuously enhanced. Behind the tremendous changes, Quan Zhanjun believes that many innovative practices in ecological protection in Mentougou District are worth mentioning:

He took the lead in formulating and implementing the Mentougou District Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan (2022-2035) in Beijing, established the first non-invasive joint laboratory in a national nature reserve in China, established a joint conference system for biodiversity conservation, and released The white paper on "Mentougou District Biodiversity Conservation, and built the Mentougou Branch of the Capital Biodiversity Conservation Research Institute...

"Today, the mainstreaming of biodiversity protection has become an important part of the promotion of ecological civilization construction in Mentougou District." The full occupation army said.

"Millennium Coal City" achieves green transformation

In 2023, the ecological and environmental quality indicators in Mentougou District are gratifying. The average annual concentration of PM2.5 is 30 micrograms/cubic meter, surface water quality has stably met municipal assessment requirements, and the ecological environment quality index (EI) continues to maintain an "excellent" level.

As one of Beijing's most important coal supply bases and industrial zones, it was not easy for the "Millennium Coal City" to achieve such results. "After shutting down the last state-owned coal mine in 2020, our district has completely ended its thousand-year history of coal mining." Lu Chenfei said frankly that the closure of all mines in the area is only to serve the overall development of the capital and implement the positioning of ecological conservation functions.

After rejecting traditional resource-based industries such as coal and building materials, Mentougou District chose to say "hello" to high-tech industries such as "artificial intelligence, ultra-high-definition digital audio-visual, and medical devices in the cardiovascular field." Data shows that specialized and new enterprises in Mentougou District achieved a year-on-year increase in local-level general public budget revenue of 12.92%.

"By improving the carbon peak and carbon neutrality policy system and implementation path, we will promote green and low-carbon transformation in key areas such as energy, transportation, and construction." Quan Zhanjun said that Mentougou District is striving to reduce the "carbon content" of economic development, and its carbon emission intensity has remained the best in Beijing City's ecological conservation area in recent years.

In fact, the improvement of the "green content" of the ecological environment is also inseparable from comprehensive management and intelligent supervision. Mentougou District has successively organized and implemented a number of ecological restoration projects such as integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, comprehensive management of Yongding River, and restoration of abandoned mines. At the same time, it has built a comprehensive application platform for ecological environment big data and a water clarity smart water management platform.

"Previously, Mentougou District was qualified to host the 9th International Rose Conference in 2025, which is a high recognition of Mentougou District's good ecological environment and natural ecological protection effectiveness." Quan Zhanjun commented.

Carry out GEP-oriented institutional innovation practices

"Under the nourishment of the Yongding River for thousands of years, Mentougou has become a rare treasure place in Beijing with beautiful mountains, clear waters, and rich cultures." For Mentougou, Shan Jixiang, director of the Expert Committee of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum, summed it up with "poetic and picturesque".

Map provided by the People's Government of Mentougou District

However, how to solve the problem of "two mountains" transformation and achieve the simultaneous efforts and guarantees of ecological investment and ecological enrichment of the people, Mentougou District chose to use the ecological product value realization mechanism as a breakthrough, and use diversified funds to stimulate the endogenous power of a river, a mountain, and a village to achieve the improvement of the quality and appreciation of ecological assets.

Lu Chenfei said that Mentougou District has established a key indicator system for GEP (Ecological Product Value), carried out a "portrait" of GEP characteristics at the town and street level, and formulated a "one town, one policy" transformation and improvement work plan. In 2020, Mentougou District took the lead in completing the research on the value accounting and realization mechanism of ecological products. After preliminary calculations, the value of Mentougou ecological products is 30.7 billion yuan.

Now, Mentougou District is exploring the way for "Kanshanren" to stabilize the "golden rice bowl" and eat "ecological rice" well. "Mentougou District is the first in the country to promote the ecological product value realization (VEP) pilot in specific regional units. The Beijing-West Ancient Road Immersive Ecological Town Project was officially approved and entered the substantive construction stage." Quan Zhanjun introduced.

Adhering to the "ecological district" strategy and achieving remarkable results, it took the lead in carrying out GEP-oriented institutional innovation practices in Beijing City. Mentougou District has become the first in the practice of national ecological civilization construction. "Faced with new opportunities for regional development, we will give full play to the five advantages of 'Urban area location, suburban cost, opportunities in new district, environment in scenic spots, and enthusiasm in old district' to continue to fight for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and green high-quality transformation and development, and welcome the 75th anniversary of the founding of New China with outstanding results." Lu Chenfei said.