Editor’s note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the People’s Congress system. Five experts share their views with China Daily on how the rule of law and the comprehensive process of people’s democracy safeguard the country’s overall development.

China’s reform and opening up unleashed untold economic forces. China’s per capita GDP of $156.8 in 1978 was far lower than that of another major developing country, India ($206.07). However, reform and opening up transformed China’s development landscape, and the country moved from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy.

The emergence of new economic forces, through reform and opening up, has contributed to double-digit GDP growth for an unprecedented three decades, unparalleled in history. As a result, by 2023, China’s GDP per capita had risen sharply to $12,614.1, compared with $2,484.8 in India. In other words, China’s GDP per capita, which was only 76 percent of India’s in 1978, became more than five times higher than India’s over the next 45 years.

Until 2010, China focused on rapid economic growth and was successful in doing so. By the early 21st century, it became obvious that such economic growth was contributing to serious air, water, and soil pollution, which in turn posed a threat to human health and ecosystems.

In some ways, China’s economic development and the consequent increase in environmental pollution were somewhat similar to what other industrialized countries experienced during their development. Until the early 1970s, all industrialized countries more or less believed that environmental pollution was a side effect of development and the price to pay for continued economic progress.

Only as these countries developed economically did they realize that environmental pollution was not a sign of progress but a serious obstacle to the long-term health and well-being of people and ecosystems. While it took Western policymakers about 100 years to understand this fact, China recognized the problem in less than three decades. The National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee have passed and amended more than 30 environmental laws, more than 100 administrative regulations and more than 1,000 local regulations.

One of the most serious aspects of air pollution is PM2.5 concentration. Thanks to effective policies, the annual average level of PM2.5 in Beijing has fallen from 101.56 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) in 2013 to about 39 µg/m3 in 2023. While this is still high, the progress in reducing air pollution over the past 12 years has been remarkable. New policies introduced by the State Council, China’s cabinet, in 2023 to “strictly and reasonably” control total coal use and restrict high-emission projects are expected to further reduce air pollution.

The policy calls for China to reduce PM2.5 density by 10 percent from 2020 levels and the number of severely polluted days to less than 1 percent by 2025. In addition, coal use in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas will be reduced by 10 percent from 2020 levels, and a corresponding reduction in the Yangtze River Delta region of 5 percent, with additional reductions in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

China is phasing out inefficient and small-scale coal-fired boilers and promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other hazardous air pollutants. In July, sales of electric vehicles and hybrid cars (51.9%) in China surpassed sales of cars with internal combustion engines (48.1%) for the first time.

The success of China’s air pollution control policy is evidenced by the fact that in 2005 most of the world’s 10 most polluted cities were located in China, but in 2020 not a single Chinese city was among the 15 most polluted cities.

China has also made significant progress in monitoring and controlling water pollution over the past four decades. For example, in 1985, the country monitored 35 parameters of drinking water quality. In 2006, it began monitoring 106 water quality parameters. In 2023, further changes were made, and the number of optional parameters that can be monitored almost doubled, from 28 to 55. China’s current water quality standards set upper limits for 152 water quality parameters that must not be exceeded.

China proposed specific water-related targets in its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), which included building new sewage treatment plants to treat 50.22 million cubic meters per day. It also included building 125,000 kilometers of new sewage pipelines. All of these targets were achieved by 2020 or earlier.

China currently uses a six-level water quality system to classify surface water quality. Levels III and above are considered fairly good quality. Levels V and VI are the most polluted. The country also plans to restore water flows in 53 dried-up rivers, restore native fish species to stable populations in 127 major reservoirs and create an additional 213 square kilometers of wetlands by 2025.

In addition, to effectively curb water pollution, the government has appointed government officials as river chiefs. Party leaders at all levels have also been appointed as river or lake chiefs. Their success or failure in maintaining water quality in the sections they are responsible for will determine their overall performance rating, which will directly affect their advancement in the party hierarchy.

The river boss model is China’s unique development strategy to maintain surface water quality, and more than a million river bosses have already been appointed. This and related developments have greatly reduced water pollution in China’s rivers and lakes. It is likely that further steps will be taken to significantly reduce water pollution levels in the next six years.

President Xi Jinping has said that green mountains and clean rivers are mountains of silver and gold. With such strong support, it is highly likely that China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) will set very ambitious but achievable air and water pollution targets by 2030. And hopefully by 2030, China’s air and water will be much cleaner than in the past 50 years.

Asit K. Biswas is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Glasgow, UK, director of Water Management International, Singapore, and executive director of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico; Tang Qiuhong is a professor at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; and Cecilia Tortajada is a professor in practice at the School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK. These views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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