Circular Economy: An Implementation Approach for Sustainable Development Strategy

Author: Wang Lihong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: In the 1990s, the international community established a sustainable development strategy, and many developed countries regarded the development of a circular economy and the establishment of a circular society as important pathways to implement this strategy. To ensure the healthy and sustainable development of China's economy and to improve the quality of life for the general public, developing a circular economy has become an urgent priority. Whether resources are conserved is a very critical issue in China's future economic development. We should focus on the following aspects.
1. Formulation of urban waste management policies. Urban waste contains many resources, some of which are even precious non-renewable resources. China should accelerate the formulation of relevant management policies for the recycling and utilization of urban waste resources. If we recycle and reuse resources from waste, we not only save energy but also reduce pollution emissions.
2. Actively developing the environmental protection industry. The environmental protection industry refers to the total activities of technological development, product production, commercial circulation, resource utilization, information services, and engineering contracting in the national economic structure, all aimed at preventing and controlling environmental pollution, improving the ecological environment, and protecting natural resources. The environmental protection industry is a highly promising high-tech industry with a strong development potential and a favorable market prospect. Currently, the adjustment of the world's industrial structure is moving toward rational resource utilization, waste generation reduction, and harmless production processes. The Chinese government should strengthen its administrative functions in environmental protection while fully utilizing the laws of the market economy to establish an economic policy control system adapted to the socialist market economy system. Through the mechanism of benefits, it should strengthen macro-control and scientific policy guidance for the development of the environmental protection industry.
3. Vigorously promoting the development of ecological agriculture. As China is an agricultural country, agriculture is the foundation of the national economy. Therefore, the modernization of China's agriculture determines the overall process of China's modernization. Currently, the unreasonable structure of China's agriculture, characterized by fragmentation and singularity, as well as the simple and extensive exploitative management, has not yet been resolved. Many serious problems, such as resource waste, environmental damage, and poor product quality, remain unresolved. Building high-yield, high-quality, high-efficiency, and low-consumption ecological agricultural models in a location-specific manner and vigorously developing organic and green agriculture are the best choices to solve various problems and contradictions and achieve sustainable development.
4. Actively building ecological cities. From the perspective of urban ecology, a city is a complex ecosystem composed of three subsystems: social, economic, and natural. An ecological city that complies with ecological principles should be a complex ecosystem with a reasonable structure, efficient functions, coordinated relationships, and a state of dynamic balance. An ecological city emphasizes coordinated development of society, economy, and nature, as well as overall ecological transformation, aiming to achieve harmonious development between humans and nature and a city with a sound ecological cycle. To promote the practice of a circular economy in China, the author has completed this book based on the work accumulated in the field of circular economy over the past two years.