An aerial view of Yongxing Island, home to the government of Sansha, China's southernmost city. [Photo/Xinhua] Resolution sought after agency moved under Armed Police Force National lawmakers on Friday passed a resolution specifying the authority and responsibilities of the newly reshuffled China Coast Guard. The resolution, which serves as the legal basis for the Coast Guard, makes it clear that the force is tasked with cracking down on illegal activities at sea, safeguarding security and order of maritime operations, protecting the marine environment and ecosystems, regulating the fishing industry, and coordinating and training local governments' maritime law enforcement. It also lists responsibilities mentioned in current laws that now belong to multiple government departments but will be assigned to the Coast Guard. The resolution was adopted at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature. General Wang Ning, commander of the Armed Police Force, said that existing rules on the Coast Guard's powers and responsibilities have become outdated. They need to be modified for the force to carry out maritime law enforcement operations with the move from the former State Oceanic Administration to the Armed Police Force, he said. The Coast Guard now has new command systems, operational mechanisms and coordination patterns, he said, while briefing the legislators about the draft resolution on Tuesday. In addition, some clauses in current laws and regulations pertaining to the Coast Guard have become inconsistent with the force's new status and missions, so amendments are necessary, he said. Amending multiple laws, however, usually takes a long time. Timely passage of a specific resolution on the Coast Guard's new authority and responsibilities was needed to grant a legal basis for the new force's operations, Wang said. The Coast Guard was established in July 2013 as a result of a government reorganization, merging several organs administered by separate government departments that independently conducted law enforcement operations on the sea, such as the maritime police under the public security authorities and anti-smuggling police under the General Administration of Customs. It was affiliated with the State Oceanic Administration but also took guidance and instructions from the Ministry of Public Security. In March, the central leadership issued a massive reform plan of many bodies of the Communist Party of China and the central government, which included the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Armed Police Force. The Coast Guard is now undertaking a host of reform measures arranged by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Central Military Commission, Wang said. The Armed Police Force itself was placed under the unified control of the CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission as of January. Under the new command chain, Armed Police units take orders directly from the force's headquarters, which, likewise, follows directives from the Central Military Commission instead of instructions from both the commission and the State Council. Cao Yin contributed to this story. make your own wristbandwellies and wristbands 2017custom fidget spinnerscheap silicone wristbandsprintable wristbands
Herdsman grow desert plants at Tonguto Gacha Village in Alxa Left Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, June 28, 2017. [Photo/VCG] China's forest coverage and stock volume still lag far behind global averages despite the country's efforts in forest planting, forestry experts said. China is the fastest-growing country in terms of forest resources, Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration, recently told Shanghai-based thepaper.cn at a forum on forestry development. Since 2005, the forest coverage of China has increased from 18.2 percent to 21.6 percent, and the urban green coverage of built-up areas has reached 36.4 percent, said him. From 2005 to 2016, the carbon intensity - a measure of a country's emissions compared with each unit of its economic growth - has been reduced by 43 percent, according to report by thepaper.cn. This is partly because of the increased carbon sinks from the growing forest coverage, which is estimated to absorb 500 million to 600 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Despite the country's efforts in forest planting, China faces challenges in further increasing the coverage rate and quality of planted forests. China's forest coverage rate is still 10 percent lower than the world's average, and forest resources are unevenly distributed, said Zhao Shucong, deputy head of the National Afforestation Committee. Forestation is becoming increasingly difficult as most of the remaining lands favorable for forests are located in arid or semiarid areas in north China or karst formations in the south. The quality of forests also needs to be improved, he said. The proportion of young and middle-aged forests is 65 percent, which is unreasonable for sustainable development, and the stock volume per hectare of forest is less than one-fourth of that in developed countries, according to Zhao. Meanwhile, the annual value of ecosystem services per hectare of forest is only 40 percent of that in Germany and Japan, said Zhao. A 2014 report of China Daily show that half of China's timber is imported, reflecting a serious deficiency. By 2030, China aims to increase wood stock by 4.5 billion cubic meters - or around 30 percent - from the level of 2005. To achieve that goal, the country has launched reforms on the paid use of natural resources as well as environmental damage compensation systems. And from 2018, the pilot mechanism of auditing natural resource assets of outgoing leading officials will be promoted nationwide. We should actively explore theories and methods in evaluating forest resources and include forests' values in the national planning and accounting system, thus fully realizing the value of resources and the environment, said Zhao.
