China to hit peak emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. To reach these goals, what difficulties and challenges must be overcome? CGTN interviewed Qian Yong, director of the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, to find the answers.  Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：April 16, 2021

Beijing's air quality has improved significantly in the last few years thanks to the emission reductions following the implementation of clean air actions, according to the latest report released by the Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health (APHH) in a Chinese Megacity (APHH-Beijing) program that unites British and Chinese scientists. The APHH-Beijing program was funded by Britain's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) as part of the UK-China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).  A team of more than 150 scientists spent five years conducting one of the largest air pollution field campaigns in Beijing, generating new insight into air pollution and human health using novel observational and modeling tools, said a press statement on the website of the University of Birmingham. The scientists have found that sources of key air pollutants in the city center, including fine particles, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and black carbon are much lower than predicted basing on the still relatively high concentrations in 2016 and 2017. "We confirmed that Beijing's air quality has improved significantly in recent years," said Professor Roy Harrison, lead UK principal investigator of the largest project within APHH-Beijing (AIRPOLL), from the University of Birmingham. "Our measurement work in Beijing has given us a much greater understanding of air pollutants in Beijing -- where the pollution is coming from and how much there is. This, in turn, allows us to make recommendations to policy makers and help them make the decisions that will reduce air pollution levels in Beijing and other cities across China," Harrison said. Within the wider project, researchers also discovered that cooking oil emissions are a potential source of hazardous fine particles in Beijing, suggesting that a more stringent control of this local source may be needed within the city. Furthermore, they showed that road traffic is not a major source of primary PM2.5, but remains a significant source of NOx (Nitrogen oxide). Professor Zongbo Shi from the University of Birmingham, the science coordinator of APHH-Beijing, said, "The program has enhanced UK-China collaboration, trained the next generation of scientists, and created a legacy of enhanced scientific understanding for the future that will help citizens to take individual actions to improve their day-to-day lives." Dr Caroline Culshaw, head of Healthy Environment at NERC, said, "APHH-Beijing has been a hugely successful program, showcasing large scale collaborative working across both national borders and the environmental and medical sciences to tackle global challenges." Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：March 25, 2021

China's environment ministry will push for an action plan to peak the country's carbon emission by 2030, according to Minister Huang Runqiu's speech on Sunday at the China Development Forum 2021. Huang said China's amount of carbon dioxide emissions per GDP in 2020 is 48.4 percent lower than that in 2005. But the world's most populous country still faces a coal-based energy system and a high risk of ecological disasters. He said in the coming years China will introduce more policies to make the economy greener and will further promote a low-carbon lifestyle among people. In international cooperation, the minister suggested that the world should unite to tackle carbon emission by strengthening the current framework and promoting technology innovations. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：March 22, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of the digital economy in the country's efforts to reach a carbon emissions peak by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060. He made the remarks while chairing a meeting of the Central Finance and Economics Committee in Beijing. Xi called for high-end manufacturing using the industrial internet with policy support for tech innovation by small and medium-sized companies. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：March 15, 2021

North China's Shanxi Province is known for its rich coal deposits, with a quarter of the country's coal resources. As the first pilot zone for China's "Energy Revolution" since 2019, the province has been working to become less dependent on coal mining and closed a series of mine. "In recent years, Shanxi has vigorously worked to transform its energy supply chain from single to multiple sources – from 'black' to 'green'," said Qin Peng, president at Shanxi Lubao Group told CGTN. "To make up for the cuts in coal mining production, our company is diversifying industries and exploring growth points in other sectors. We have built the largest centralized industrial wastewater treatment center in Asia and a 5G smart and green factory." Wei Huiqing, vice president at Shanxi Lubao Group, said: "The whole industry is going through a powerful transition. Efforts have been made in both the traditional and emerging industries." Wei also took the company as an example. The company has built one of the world's most advanced and eco-friendly coke ovens. "Emerging industries focus on new energy, new materials and high-quality fine chemicals, such as those used for hydrogen fuel." By the end of 2020, solar power generation in the province reached four million kilowatts – the highest in China. Some experts said Shanxi's status as a hub for energy reforms will bring about changes in areas beyond coal and electricity. Saving energy, raising efficiency, and expanding non-fossil sources are the main tasks for Shanxi in order to reach its carbon reduction goals in the next 30 years, said He Jijiang with Research Center for Energy Transition and Social Development at Tsinghua University. "These efforts will bring new income and business opportunities. If Shanxi's reforms are successful, other resource-based provinces can learn from it." Last year, China accounted for up to 40 percent of global growth in renewable energies. It also made up for some 60 percent of the world's manufacturing capacity of solar cells. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：March 5, 2021