Qinghai Province Champions Sustainable Growth With Ecological Conservation Efforts

QINGHAI, 25th May, 2024 (WAM) - Ecological conservation is the primary consideration and the main driving force for high-quality development in Qinghai province, senior provincial officials said on Friday.

Qinghai Province, renowned as "China's water tower," holds significant strategic value owing to its abundant resources and its role as the domicile of the Sanjiangyuan region, the origin of three major rivers: the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang. These insights were conveyed by Wu Xiaojun, the governor of Qinghai Province.

The province will continue to uphold its paramount value, responsibility and potential that all revolve around its ecology, and drive forward both ecological conservation and high-quality development, Wu said.

Featuring high biodiversity, the province has implemented a series of measures, such as establishing national parks, to bolster wildlife protection and ecological restoration efforts, he added.

The province has seen a surge in animal populations, with the nationally protected Tibetan antelope population rising from under 20,000 last century to over 70,000 now, and the nationally protected snow leopard population now exceeding 1,200. At Qinghai Lake, the number of naked carp has soared by 48-fold to exceed 120,000 metric tons over the past two decades.

The governor said that grassland vegetation now covers 58.12 percent of the province, with ongoing reductions in desertification and land degradation. Water quality at boundary sections of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers has consistently remained at the second-highest level or above in the five-tier system.

Human-Nature Coexistence

Liu Tao, vice-governor of Qinghai, pointed to sightings of bharal — timid mammals who peacefully graze in the mountains — as a demonstration of the improved local ecological environment and successful coexistence between humans and nature.

"Herders in Qinghai have shifted from being ecosystem beneficiaries to its guardians," Liu said. The province has involved herders in ecological protection by implementing measures such as establishing ranger positions, distributing ecological compensation and conducting proper grazing planning for sustainable development.

Scientific Transformation for Sustainable Development

In pursuit of sustainable and high-quality development, the province emphasizes scientific transformation of its ecology and economy through "vigorously advancing the industrialization of ecology and the ecologicalization of industry," said Wu.

He cited the scene of "photovoltaic sheep" in Qinghai, which led to a 30-percent reduction in water evaporation and a transformation of a once barren landscape into an oasis suitable for sheep grazing. The change is made possible by laying photovoltaic panels.

Clean Energy Initiatives

Having the nation's second-highest annual sunshine and the fourth-largest wind farm acreage, Qinghai's total installed capacity of clean energy exceeded 51 million kilowatts last year. This makes up 93 percent of total installed capacity, a percentage ranking first nationwide. The national inaugural green electricity channel was established to supply green electricity to 15 provincial regions.

Thanks to plentiful clean energy resources, Wu said the province's electricity prices have remained the lowest in the country. Additionally, the dry and cool climate enables natural cooling for computing centres for 314 days annually.

Green Computing Industry

"Qinghai is a 'natural good harbour' for developing the green computing industry," Wu said. Investing in computing power in Qinghai can result in around 20 percent lower initial investment costs and a 30 percent reduction in operating costs. The investment payback period is two years shorter.

Abiding by national guidance on channeling more computing resources from eastern areas to less-developed western regions, Qinghai has endeavoured to build a green computing industrial base. The province has introduced regional standards and preferential policies for the computing industry and forged cooperation agreements with Beijing, Shenzhen and Nanjing.

"We will insist on high-level, environmentally friendly and intelligent development," Wu said.

With inputs from WAM