A new central document on natural areas in need of protection demonstrates China's desire for environmental progress.
Demarcation of the exact boundaries of natural areas with important ecological functions will be completed by the end of 2020, according to the document released Tuesday by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.
The regions include those important to water and soil conservation, biodiversity, wind-breaking and sand fixation, as well as ecologically fragile zones prone to soil erosion, desertification and salinization.
Functions and acreage will be maintained, and their protected status will remain in place indefinitely, the document reads, describing the strategy as a "lifeline guaranteeing ecological security."
EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT
The Chinese phrase "hongxian" (red line) is frequently used in China to describe a limit that should not be crossed.
In 2005, Guangdong Province used the phrase to demarcate areas for protection in a document on the environment of the Pearl River Delta.
"The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) started to explore the environmental red line scheme in 2012," said Lu Jun, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning.
A document on overall reform released in November 2013 listed "drawing up the environmental red line" as a major task.
Clear definition of the red line in environmental protection was given in the Environmental Protection Law that was amended in 2014 and went into force in 2015.
To guide local governments in drawing the red line, the MEP compiled a handbook in 2015, without setting any timetable.
