China unveils its first green development index ranking

2017-12-26
Xinhua

BEIJING — China unveiled its first regional green development index ranking on Dec 26, which takes into account economic performance as well as various environmental indicators.

The index covers 55 indicators, including energy consumption efficiency, carbon emissions, air quality, per capita disposable income, as well as research and development spending, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In the 2016 ranking, Beijing and the provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang were the top three.

However, in terms of the public satisfaction on ecological development, the result of a nationwide sample survey showed that Tibet autonomous region and the provinces of Guizhou and Hainan ranked the top three, while Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin were bottom.

Commenting on the divergent rankings, Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS, said the green development index came from “objective evaluation” of regional ecological development, while the public satisfaction survey reflected the “subjective feeling” of environmental conditions.

The green development index ranking came one year after the central authority decided to use the index to measure local government performance on green growth and ecological development as the country focuses more on high-quality development. Results of the review will be a key reference in the promotion of officials, and punishment for any wrongdoing.

China’s economic development has entered a new era, and the basic feature is that the economy has shifted from high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, according to a statement issued last week after the annual Central Economic Work Conference.

“To push ahead high-quality development, the country will create new indicators, policies, standards, statistical and performance assessment systems,” according to the statement.

“Efforts will be taken to improve the green development index system and better the annual evaluation system for local government performance on ecological development,” Ning said.