On March 21st, 2018, Director General Chen Liang of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office (FECO) held an official meeting with Mr. Francesco La Camera and others of the Directorate for Sustainable Development, Environmental Damage, European Union and International Affairs of the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea of Italy in FECO’s Environmental Conventions Building.

Director General Chen Liang first introduced to Director General La Camera the “two sessions” just concluded and the changes in the functions of the newly established Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Director General Chen Liang introduced that the newly established Ministry of Ecology and Environment shall not be confused as the “Ministry of Ecological Environment” in translation. The former Minister of Environmental Protection Li Ganjie was elected as the new Minister of Ecology and Environment. The new Ministry of Ecology and Environment, based on the original duties of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, has greatly developed new functions and realized integration in five areas to unify the original decentralized duties of pollution prevention and ecological protection. In other words, it has gotten through barriers between the ground and the underground, the land and the sea, urban and rural areas, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, enhancing synergy between climate change and air pollution prevention and control. The Ministry of Ecology Environment has strengthened authority in planning and formulating of regulatory standards, realse of monitoring and evaluation results power, supervision and enforcement of laws, and inspection and affixing responsibilities, unifying supervision and administrative enforcement on ecology and urban and rural pollution discharge.

Director General Chen Liang stated that the prevention and control of pollution is one of the three major challenges in China’s visions of building a well-off society in an all-round way, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will focus on the three objectives of ecological environment improvement, total pollutant emissions reduction and environmental risk management and control, highlight the three major areas of air, water and soil, strengthen three bases including actively promoting the formation of green development methods and lifestyle, accelerating efforts to step on the protection and restoration of ecosystems, and quickening the establishment of ecological environment governance system and the modernization of governance capacity, resolutely win the fight against environmental pollution, further improve the quality of the ecological environment to the best of its ability, and let the people be more satisfied and happier about the ecological environment in which they are living.

Director General La Camera spoke highly of the convening of the two sessions and institutional reforms in China. He extended his congratulations on the expansion of the functions of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the election of Minister Li Ganjie. He also appreciated the efforts and achievements made in ecological environmental protection in recent years in China.

The two sides jointly reviewed the fruitful cooperation between China and Italy in the environmental industry and technology, and agreed that with the adjustment and expansion of the functions of the newly established Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Sino-Italian environmental cooperation will be both more extensive and intensive. The two sides also intended to cooperate, through 3iPET, on the development and implementation of projects such as the pollution control of Sino-Italian Xinji Leather Industrial Park, the application of low-nitrogen boiler technology in Xi’an Qujiang New District, the establishment of the Italian pavilion for the China International Environmental Protection Exhibition and the Sino-Italian technology matchmaking conference, and hold in-depth discussion on issues such as tripartite cooperation in emissions trading.

After the meeting, the two sides signed the Sino-Italian Cooperation Technical Arrangement on 2018 China International Environmental Protection Exhibition & Conference. Deputy Director General Fang Li of FECO, representatives of the Italian Embassy in China, the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea of Italy and the staff of the Project Management Office of the Sino-Italian Cooperation Programme for Environmental Protection attended the meeting.