Greener Pastures

Zhang Hongrui

Environmentally-friendly development in Jiangxi Province sets a new standard for the nation.

The climate of Jiangxi – located in southern China – is warm and moist with abundant precipitation. Encompassing a dense network of rivers and lakes， Jiangxi has been a famed land of milk and honey since ancient times.

“Its quite enjoyable to travel here with the fresh air， the beautiful scenery and the delicious local food，” said Li Mei， a tourist to Jiangxi.

In recent years， Jiangxi has made major improvements to its forests， wetlands， rivers and cultivated land， becoming a national leader in the quality of ecological environment and attracting an increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists.

Turning Ecological Advantage into Development Opportunities

In order to make further progress， Jiangxi has intensified environmental protection by implementing a system for developing and protecting its geographical space with the provincial government already establishing red lines for ecological conservation， farmland protection and water resources management.

Longnan County of Jiangxi Province is rich in mineral resources， with 70 percent of the worlds reserve of heavy rare earths. Since the 1970s， the rare earths of Longnan have been exploited in large quantities， causing considerable damage to local vegetation. The mining of a ton of rare earths can result in the destruction of 200 square meters of surface vegetation and 300 square meters of surface soil layer， while also producing 2，000 cubic meters of tailings. New water and soil conservation projects， however， have brought soil erosion under control and the mining area is now covered with ryegrass， brown leaf grass， Sudan grass and wild pea. Local researchers have also worked out a set of measures to fix sand， preserve soil quality and improve soil fertility. “Through this conservation project， were going to reclaim 18 hectares of farmland and 103 hectares of woodland，” said Ye Xiaoxin， director general of the Longnan County Bureau of Land Resources， “Work on another 40 hectares is still ongoing.”

In addition， Jiangxi has worked hard to implement pollution controls covering the Poyang Lake and its five major rivers， thus enhancing the protection of the noncommercial ecological forests located in the middle and upper reaches of the major rivers. The local government has also moved forward with eco-friendly projects to protect and restore the mountains， waters， forests and farmlands. It has intensified ecological conservation and restoration efforts， organized afforestation， restored reclaimed land to forests and built the Poyang Lake Basin clean water system.

“No one is currently living in the core area of the Ganjiang River headwaters protection zone，” said Zhang Malin， head of the Huangzhu Station of the protection zone. “Eight hundred of the one thousand households in the buffer zone have been resettled elsewhere. Sixty-seven hectares of reclaimed land have been restored to forests. More than 200 various firearms [used for hunting local wildlife] have been confiscated. Since 2014， not a single tree has been cut. Water deer， which had disappeared for more than a decade， are now common. Flying foxes used to be rare， but now there are tens of thousands of them. Some of them have even flown into our rangers hut during rainy days.”

Today， Jiangxis green hills are dotted with residential buildings. According to statistics， Jiangxi leads the country in forestry coverage， with 63.1 percent of its total land forested. Air quality was also reported as “good” in 86.2 percent of Jiangxis major cities. According to state monitoring bodies focused on surface water， the proportion of water bodies ranked from grades 1-3 reached 88.6 percent， higher than the national average level. The efficiency of resource utilization has also improved， with the energy consumed for every 10，000 yuan of GDP in 2017 decreasing by 4.9 percent year on year. All of this demonstrates that the concept of an “ecological civilization” has been thoroughly applied to the economic and social development of Jiangxi Province.

In Luoping， Wuning County， slogans painted on the walls along the streets announce a twenty-year ban on local logging. Villagers who used to log for a living have become forest rangers， while Lu Xiancheng， a local villager， has started an agritainment business in the nearby thousand-year-old taxus forest， one of eight agritainment businesses in the village. The village has also developed a vineyard， a taxus seedling cultivation base and a bee farm housing more than 10，000 boxes of bees. Per capita village income is well over 10，000 yuan （US$1，540）.

“In the past， we didnt realize the value of taxus. Some were sold as cedar wood，” said Yu Jinbing， former Party secretary of the village. “Now the taxus trees are our treasures！ The village has worked out 10 regulations against damaging the ecological environment. The villagers are all aware that the trees in the surrounding mountains are a ready source of income. Our farm produce， such as mushroom， fungus， and fresh vegetables， now have easier access to the market. Were living a better life taking care of the trees than we were when we cut trees down.”

Regarding how Jiangxi will turn its ecological advantage into opportunities for development， Liu Qi， the governor of Jiangxi Province， says， “Well seize the opportunity of the establishment of national pilot zones for ecological conservation to invest more in environment-friendly ways of production and living， aiming to further consolidate and upgrade our ecological advantages and turn them into development opportunities， with these best practices being potentially replicable across the country.”

Developing Ecological Industries

“At present， Jiangxi is speeding up the construction of an eco-economic system with high scientific potential， large employment capacity， low resource consumption and excellent environmental quality，” said Zhang Heping， director of the Jiangxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission. “Meanwhile， we are building a perfect ecological industry chain， promoting the transition from ecological elements to production elements and from ecological wealth to material wealth， in order to achieve the simultaneous improvement of both the ecology and the economy.”

In Xiushi， Fengcheng City， Lei Yingguo， one of the countrys leading grain growers， is currently growing organic rice. In addition to his rice crop， Lei is breeding 600 shelducks in his five-hectare field. Twenty days after the rice seedlings are transplanted in the field， the shelducks are let in， where they live for one-and-a-half months until the rice begins to ear， when they are recalled.

Lei told our reporter that its a good idea to breed the shelducks in the rice field， where they both prey on pests and act as a substitute for pesticide， and eat weeds， thus acting as a substitute for herbicide. In addition， their waste serves as an excellent substitute for chemical fertilizers. The entire process of rice production in Leis field is green； no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used. Its also a cost-effective and efficient form of rice production.

“If the weeding is done manually， I have to pay the workers 4，500 yuan [US$690] per hectare，” said Lei， “The shelducks save that cost for me. The quality of our green organic rice has significantly improved， and now can sell for as high as 40 yuan [US$6] per kilogram.”

Over the last year， through the provinces “ecology plus modern agriculture” program， Jiangxi has pushed for the building of 11 pilot green organic agricultural bases， while establishing standards in both agricultural production and a food-traceability system. Wu Daishe， a member of the Peoples Political Consultative Conference of Jiangxi Province and dean of the School of Resources， Environment and Chemical Engineering at Nanchang University， believes that in order to develop organic agriculture， its important to develop the intensive processing of organic produce. With famous products like the Jiangxi navel orange and the Nanfeng mandarin， Jiangxi has plenty of room to further develop its intensive fruit processing and ecological tourism industries.

Wanzai County has turned its local ecology into development and job opportunities. On the one hand， it has developed its organic agriculture for produce including flowers， fruits and high value-added local products. On the other hand， it has brought into play its natural tourist attractions， such as the Bamboo Hill Cave， the Forest Park and the Samba Nature Reserve， to develop its eco-tourism industry. Eco-tourism in the county has already become a major revenue stream； every year， 1.6 million tourists visit the county， with tourism revenue estimated at 1.8 billion yuan （US$280 million）. Today， green industries have become a driver of economic growth in the county.

At the same time， the province has pushed forward the idea of “ecology plus modern industry”. Cleaner production and recycling projects are widely carried out in various industrial fields， all within an environmentally-friendly industrial system， as well as in sectors such as health and elderly care.

Focusing on this industry， Jiangxi Huaziren Agricultural Industry Company invested 120 million yuan （US$18.5 million） in a 70-hectare food and medicine venture in Xinfeng County， with an annual output value of 50 million yuan （US$7.7 million）. “We follow the idea of ‘green and healthy development to cultivate high-end high-quality organic gynura procumbens [a plant known for its curative effects as a blood balancer]，” said the companys general manager Zhang Youmu. “We dont cultivate them in greenhouses. The final products are produced without any chemical fertilizers， residue or additives. Our aim is to offer quality services to our customers.”

With its numerous ecological advantages， Jiangxi has created a green industrial system with new forms of industrialization as its core and modern agricultural and service industries as its priority. In 2016， the proportion of high-tech industries in the provinces value-added industries reached 30 percent， with the total output value of green ecological agriculture equaling nearly 300 billion yuan （US$46 billion）. The added value of the service industry accounted for more than 40 percent of the provinces GDP.