As an extra large city on the coastline of NorthChina, Tianjin has spent a lot of efforts protectingand improving the environment during recentyears. After becoming the national environmental-friendly model city, Tianjin is now stridingto a new target. Till 2015, Tianjin will basicallygrow into an ecology-friendly city, achieving thecoordinated development between the socialand economic development and the ecologicalenvironment.

In 2002, the Tianjin Municipal Government explicitlyproposed the target of building a national-level environmental-friendly model city. Sincethen, the city has spent great effort improving itsenvironment. It has implemented some projectsone after another, such as “Clear Sky Project”,“Pure Water Project”, “Peaceful Life Project”,“Ecological-Friendly Project”, so on and so forth.The city’s 27 indexes about the assessment havemet the national inspection requirements. Besides,Tianjin second-level river renovation hasobtained the “Chinese living environment modelprize” awarded by the Ministry of Housing andUrban-Rural Development, which has laid a solidfoundation for the city’s ecological development.

In 2005, Tianjin was named by the State as awater-conservation and environment-friendlymodel city. After that, Tianjin proposed anotherplan, aiming at building a national hygienic andgarden city, an eco-city eventually.Clear about the development orientation of itsown, Tianjin has been required to implement thesustainable development strategy steadfastly inorder to build an international port city, wherethe economy is booming, the society is civilized,the technology and education are developed,the facilities are consummate, and the surroundingsare excellent. The eco-city will become theeconomic center of North China. Apart fromdeveloping the economy, Tianjin also emphasizesthat every part of the society should meetrequirements of the sustainable development.

Therefore, Tianjin insists that the economic developmentshould get along with human benefit,resource efficiency and environmental protection.Development speed, structure, quality aswell as returns should be unified. On one hand,the city comprehensively optimizes the industrialstructure and regional economic layouts,making efforts to solve structural environmentalproblems.

On the other hand, Tianjin speeds up the constructionof environmental infrastructures sothat the project for comprehensive environmentalimprovement can work. Before the 2008Olympic Games raised its curtain, 20 projectsaiming to benefit citizens’ life have been basicallycompleted. Tianjin Municipal Governmentstarted the 20 projects as early as 2007. The cityenvironment has changed remarkably. The functionsof its infrastructures have improved greatly,with 59.43 million square meters of the majorroads outside the ring road afforested and 20.61million square meters of the urban districts afforested.Altogether 183 roads of 333 kilometersin length have been renovated comprehensively.All these form a civic landscape where the tonesare coordinated and the surroundings are neat.

Through hard and effective work, Tianjin’s airquality is improving, with air quality of 320 daysin 2007 reaching the standard of “good”. All thecity’s drinking water has met due standard forfive consecutive years. Besides, the processingratio of city living sewage has reached 80 percent,while the detoxification ratio of home trash hasincreased to 85 percent. Moreover, 37 percent ofthe city’s construction area has been afforested.At the end of this year, the city would reach thestandard of being a national garden city.

Tianjin has drafted the “Summary of the EcologicalCity Construction”, which clarifies the indexsystem of building an eco-city. The system isaltogether made up of 33 indexes, which go into 3categories, including economic development, environmentalprotection and social progress. Lastyear, the summary has been authorized to takeeffect by the 39th conference of the 14th StandingCommittee of Tianjin People’s Congress.

In the process of building an eco-city, Tianjin hasstrengthened environmental protection on natureand ecology, aiming to promote the harmoniousrelationship between human and nature.Up to now, natural protection areas of Tianjinhave occupied 13.66 percent of the whole cityland, reaching advanced national level. There arealtogether 8 towns entitled as “national townswith excellent surroundings”. And there are 779ecological villages and civilized-ecological villagesin Tianjin. In 2007 the forest coverage proportionof the city has increased to 18.4 percentfrom 15 percent in 2000.

Through participating the campaigns of establishingthe environmental-friendly model city,hygienic city, garden city and eco-city, Tianjin isexpected to streamline all strength to consistentlypromote the environment and to perfectthe city’s function so that the ultimate objectiveof building an eco-city can be met and citizenscan get benefit from it.

Before 2015 when the ecological city has beenbuilt, Tianjin will focus on five eco-system projects,which are: the safeguarding system ofreasonable disposition and efficient usage ofresources; the environmental-governing system;the eco-industry system based on high and newtechnology, clean production and circulativeeconomy; the ecological living system focusingon human beings and the harmonious relationshipbetween human and nature, as well as betweenhuman and society; the ecological culturebased on civilization.

Therefore, Tianjin would enlarge the investmentfor the construction of eco-friendly environment.In addition to the special fund, Tianjin hascreated the multifaceted mechanism of investmentand finance through measures of taxationand loan.

In addition to investment in term of money, Tianjinalso fuels the eco-city construction throughlegislation. The city strengthens the environmentallegislation and works out local regulations andlaws regarding ecological protection, ecologicalcompensation, circulative economy, clean production,and resource conservation, etc..