Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 26 (Title: Where is Beautiful China Beautiful? Monitoring Data Tells You - China Accelerates the Establishment of a Modernized Ecological Environment Monitoring System)

Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Jing

Ecological environment monitoring is the foundation of ecological environment protection and an important support for ecological civilization construction. Jiang Huahua, director of the Ecological Environment Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said on the 26th that it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of a modernized ecological environment monitoring system, improve the integrated monitoring network of land, sea, and air, and strive to achieve "Where is Beautiful China beautiful? Monitoring data tells you."

At a press conference held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on the same day, Jiang Huahua said that improving the integrated monitoring network of land, sea, and air is the most basic and primary task in the construction of a modernized monitoring system. Since 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has proactively planned the layout of the national environmental air, surface water, groundwater, and ocean monitoring networks during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and will use a more scientific, efficient, and integrated network to better support the construction of a beautiful China.

First, it more comprehensively reflects the quality of the ecological environment. In terms of air, air quality monitoring points will be added in newly built urban areas. In terms of surface water, surface water monitoring sections will be added in source areas such as the Sanjiangyuan region, taking a "full-body photo" of major rivers from their source to their estuary. Starting from the 14th Five-Year Plan period, in accordance with the requirements of "coordinated management of water resources, water environment, and water ecology," the monitoring and evaluation of aquatic biological indicators will be comprehensively deployed on the basis of the existing monitoring of physical and chemical indicators of the water environment, more comprehensively reflecting the water environment and water ecological conditions.

Second, it provides stronger support for precise and scientific pollution control. Scientifically distinguish the impact of natural factors and human activities on the quality of the ecological environment, and focus attention on environmental pollution caused by human activities. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, monitoring points that are greatly affected by natural background factors and have less surrounding human activity will be optimized and adjusted.

Third, it focuses more on environmental issues around the people. While doing a good job in monitoring the water quality of major rivers, more attention is paid to extending to small and medium-sized water bodies around the people. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, more than 170 tributaries and small rivers around the people will be added for monitoring, making monitoring data more tangible and accessible to the public. In terms of groundwater, monitoring will be strengthened around "one zone and two fields," namely chemical industrial parks, landfills, and hazardous waste disposal sites.

Reporters learned from the press conference that AI technology, satellite remote sensing, and a series of technological means will play a greater role in ecological environment monitoring.

Jiang Huahua said that currently, DeepSeek has been initially applied in the China Environmental Monitoring Station of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and many local ecological environment monitoring departments. Relevant documents recently issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments propose developing a batch of environmental protection robots and remote maintenance equipment around environmental monitoring and other fields, and accelerating the promotion and application of advanced technologies such as virtual reality and digital twins. He said that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will actively promote the application of new technologies in ecological environment monitoring, using more intelligent monitoring to protect the country's green mountains and clear waters.

Satellite remote sensing monitoring is an important component of the modernized monitoring system and the "sky eye" of ecological environment protection work. Jiang Huahua said that satellite remote sensing has unique and significant advantages in large-scale, long-distance, non-contact ecological environment monitoring. In recent years, especially since the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the satellite remote sensing monitoring capacity of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has been significantly improved. Currently, it has 7 satellites in orbit in two series, environment and atmosphere, and has initially built a multi-satellite collaborative short-cycle, high-coverage, high-resolution ecological environment satellite remote sensing monitoring system.

He said that remote sensing methods represented by satellites and drones will play an increasingly important role in ecological environment protection. Next, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will comprehensively improve satellite remote sensing monitoring capabilities, further give full play to the unique advantages of remote sensing technology, actively explore the linkage application with artificial intelligence large models, make the "sky eye" of satellite remote sensing clearer and its vision broader, and contribute to the construction of a beautiful China.

Source: Xinhua Net