Officials from China’s Environmental Protection Ministry and Inner Mongolia autonomous region held a conference in Beijing on Oct 19, to attempt to find approaches to balancing economic development and environmental protection.

Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection; Li Jiheng, secretary of Inner Mongolia Party Committee; and Bu Xiaolin, president of Inner Mongolia autonomous region attended and addressed the conference.

Officials from China’s Environmental Protection Ministry and the government of Inner Mongolia held a conference in Beijing on Oct 19, with a focus on environmental protection in Inner Mongolia. [nmg.gov.cn]

Chen Jining stressed that the government of Inner Mongolia has placed constant emphasis on resolving environmental issues, and has also provided support for the supervision conducted by the ministry.

In recent years, Inner Mongolia has made significant improvements on environmental protection, and been functioned as a crucial part of North China’s ecological screen. Inner Mongolia will continue to promote local eco-construction and the minimization of air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The ministry will firmly support environmental improvement projects proposed by the Inner Mongolia government, and looks forward to contributing towards better air quality for Inner Mongolia and North China, added Chen.

Li Jiheng conveyed his gratitude for the minister’s concern about the development of Inner Mongolia. He mentioned that, early in 2014, President Xi Jinping pointed out the importance of eco-construction in Inner Mongolia that not only benefitted local people but also people in North China, Northwest China, Northeast China, and even the whole country. As a region with plentiful resources but a fragile ecosystem, Inner Mongolia needs to achieve a balance between economic development and environmental conservation.

The conference was also attended by other officials from the Environmental Protection Ministry and the government of Inner Mongolia.