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Today (December 23rd), the People’s Daily published a half-page report on the ecological transformation of Lishui District, turning greenery into gold and activating new drivers for high-quality development. In recent years, Lishui District has been guided by the “Two Mountains” concept and has embarked on a high-quality development path from “environmental improvement” to “ecological value-added”.
Let’s take a look at the detailed report ↓↓↓
The Wuxiang Mountain is ablaze with color, swans float on the clear water of Shijiu Lake, and the rice fields are golden patches… Every autumn and winter, Lishui District in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, is ablaze with colors, and a beautiful picture composed of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands gradually unfolds.
Intelligent factories are embedded in the rural scenery. The intelligent pharmaceutical logistics enterprises in Guanshan Industrial Zone are roaring with machines, and Shishanxia Village and Caozhuang Selenium-rich Ecological Park are crowded with tourists… Everywhere is a bustling scene.
Lishui District is located in the south of Nanjing City. It is the source of the 100-mile-long Qinhuai River and has 101 medium and small-sized reservoirs, with a forest coverage rate of 36%. Guided by the “Two Mountains” concept, Lishui has blazed a high-quality development path from “environmental improvement” to “ecological value-added”.
Ecological priority highlights the green base color
Not long ago, 39 chemical enterprises in Jingqiao Town caused heavy pollution and had low safety, becoming an “ecological pain point” that restricted the local development. Nowadays, the river water is crystal clear and fish and shrimp swim freely. In the evening, tourists come in an endless stream.
Under the guidance of the “Two Mountains” concept, Lishui has launched an “ecological restoration campaign” : completely shutting down all chemical enterprises and open-pit mining enterprises, and investing nearly 100 million yuan to renovate the Xinqiao River, ensuring its water quality remains stable at Grade III or above for a long time. We simultaneously advanced the “Hundred Villages and Thousand Ponds” and “Rural Sewage Treatment” projects. In 126 villages, rivers and ponds have regained clear water and green banks, and 82 planned retained villages have achieved full coverage of sewage networks. Standing in the Nanjing Smart Health and Wellness Innovation Park and looking into the distance, the blue factory buildings and the green plants along the riverbank complement each other. The former “Chemical City” has transformed into a “big garden” with blue sky and beautiful water.
From 2020 to 2024, the proportion of good air quality in Lishui District increased from 80.3% to 82.2%, and the annual average concentration of PM2.5 decreased by 17.1%. The water quality of centralized drinking water sources and national, provincial and municipal examination sections has reached 100% compliance. The safe utilization rate of contaminated farmland is 100%. It has been awarded the titles of “National Ecological Zone” and “National Demonstration Zone for Ecological Civilization Construction”, and its green development level ranks among the top of the top 100 districts in China.
Ecological improvement has also brought about the return of species, with frequent appearances of wild animals such as 白鹇 and water deer. Wuxiangshan National Forest Park has established a biodiversity science popularization museum and created distinctive ecological experience routes, making its “natural oxygen bar” brand increasingly prominent.
“System + Technology” jointly build an ecological barrier
The ecological transformation stems from Lishui’s systematic governance that emphasizes “institutional foundation, technological empowerment, and industrial linkage”. Building a full-chain ecological governance system: The “List of Ecological and Environmental Protection Responsibilities of Lishui District” was issued, clarifying the responsibilities of all levels of entities. Major environmental emergencies were included in the “one-vote veto” for cadre assessment. Since 2015, a total of 1.4 billion yuan in ecological compensation funds have been implemented. The entire district has established a digital and intelligent water affairs operation and dispatching platform, achieving “ID card style” management of river discharge outlets. In the field of air pollution prevention and control, over 2,000 monitoring terminals have been integrated, and a command and dispatch center has been established to achieve real-time coordinated control of PM2.5 and ozone.
Lishui adheres to the dual approach of upgrading and attracting investment to promote industrial transformation. A total of 39 chemical enterprises and 113 “scattered, disorderly and polluting” enterprises have been shut down successively. 316.62 mu of low-efficiency industrial land has been revitalized. Environmental protection projects such as “Industrial Green Island” and “Agricultural Green Island” have been built to solve the problems of hazardous waste treatment and utilization of agricultural and forestry waste for small and scattered enterprises. The EOD (Ecological Environment Oriented Development Model) pilot project of Nanjing National Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone in Jiangsu Province (referred to as “Nanjing National Agricultural High-tech Zone”) has been selected into the provincial EOD project database.
Green development activates ecological value
Protecting the ecological environment is protecting productivity, and improving the ecological environment is developing productivity. A good ecological environment is becoming an economic resource for Lishui to build its urban competitiveness. Lishui has built one national-level and two provincial-level agricultural parks. The 88 leading agricultural enterprises have driven the proportion of green and high-quality agricultural products to reach 83%. The Nanjing National Agricultural High-tech Zone located in Lishui District, as the only national-level agricultural high-tech zone in the Yangtze River Delta region, has led the level of agricultural modernization to remain among the top in the province. The “zero-carbon garden” in the Caozhuang Selenium-rich Ecological Park of Jingqiao Town has driven up the park’s benefits by 15% to 20%, with an expected annual carbon sink income of over 50,000 yuan.
The industrial transformation has released new impetus. The Nanjing Smart Health and Wellness Innovation Park has risen on the site of the former chemical industry park. “Innovative manufacturing + smart healthcare” has become the industrial symbol of Jingqiao Town. It has attracted 12 pharmaceutical distribution and electronic information enterprises to settle in, and it is expected that the annual output value can reach 2 billion yuan. The output value of the pharmaceutical logistics industry in Jingqiao Town is expected to exceed 1.5 billion yuan this year. The Datang New Energy Project, with an investment of 670 million yuan, has been established in Zhishan Village. It utilizes abandoned mine pits to build an 80-megawatt photovoltaic base, achieving a win-win situation for ecological restoration and energy production.
The ecological Crystal Bridge has attracted more “phoenixes” to settle down. Three major municipal projects have started construction, and a number of key projects such as Jiangsu Yulin Machinery and Nanjing Haohe have been put into production. Since 2023, Jingqiao Town has been building the “Colorful Jingqiao” rural tourism brand, receiving 1.7 million tourists and generating an income of 1.76 billion yuan. Lishui has also achieved multiple accomplishments in the field of realizing the value of ecological products. Projects such as the Wuxiangshan “Ecological Island” experimental Zone and the provincial-level EOD pilot in Nanjing National Agricultural High-tech Industrial Development Zone are advancing in an orderly manner. Golden Manor has obtained the first SGS carbon footprint certification for the fruit industry in the country. Lishui has been awarded the title of “Best Experience City for Slow Life Tourism in the Yangtze River Delta”. In 2024, it received over 18 million tourists and its tourism revenue exceeded 18 billion yuan. The popularity of the Red Li Xiang Research and Study Base, the Mido Music Festival, and the Strawberry Marathon has continued to expand. The Luoshan Dalong Cultural Festival was selected as a key event of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism under the theme of “Water Charm Jiangsu – Intangible Cultural Heritage Accompanying You for the New Year”.
Today, Lishui, under the guidance of the “Two Mountains” concept, is striving to write a new chapter of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature by promoting new practices of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth in a coordinated manner, and contributing more Lishui strength to the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
