On March 19, 2024, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the General Office of the State Council issued and implemented the “Opinions on Strengthening the Ecological and Environmental Zoning-based Regulation (EZR)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”). The Opinions are an important deployment by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to further promote the development of the ecological civilization. It serves as a guiding document for the zoning-based regulation and management of ecological and environment in China. The Opinions, focusing on the top-level design of building and improving the ecological environment zoning-based management and control system, propose the implementation of differentiated and precise control and management measures for different ecological and environmental regions. This is a significant step towards modernizing ecological environment governance. It is crucial for promoting high-quality development and high-level protection and supporting the Beautiful China Initiative in the new era. Since the initiation of the drafting of the Opinions, Professor Liu Yi from the School of Environment, Tsinghua University has served as the leader of the technical expert group. He has spearheaded research on the top-level design of the EZR system, including its positioning and technological framework. Associate Researcher Wang Zishu, along with several other researchers and graduate students, has been fully engaged throughout the drafting, issuance, and implementation process of the Opinions.

The School of Environment has consistently prioritized research on the EZR system. As a core technical support unit for this work, the School leverages its research outcomes in environmental systems analysis, environmental impact assessment/strategic environmental assessment, and its prominent interdisciplinary strengths. Starting from the strategic environmental assessment of key industries in five major regions (the first national strategic environmental assessment of mega-regions), the school has completed more than ten projects for the development of EZR in key regions, including Lianyungang (the first pilot city of the “Three Lines & One Permit” in China), the Yangtze Economic Belt (one of the first provincial-level pilots of the “Three Lines & One Permit”), Hebei Province, Baiyangdian Basin, and Xiong’an New Area. The school has undertaken multiple research projects as part of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s “Three Lines & One Permit” policy pilots, led research on technical standards and management systems for the policy, and guided local administrations in the publication and implementation of region-specific ecological environment management and control plans. Achievements in the project “Key Technologies and Applications for Fine-scale Ecological and Environmental Zoning-based Regulation under the ‘Three Lines & One Permit’ Policy,” led by the School, received the first prize in the 2023 Environmental Protection Science and Technology Awards. These efforts provided robust technical support for the issuance of the Opinions.

A letter of gratitude from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

The Opinions propose that by 2035, a comprehensive, well-established, smoothly functioning, and highly efficient EZR system will be fully implemented. This system aims to provide strong support for fundamental improvements in ecological environment and the basic realization of the Beautiful China Initiative. The Opinions clearly outline key tasks such as comprehensive advancement of the EZR policy, promotion of high-quality economic and social development, implementation of high-level ecological environment protection, and enhancement of supervision and assessment. It proposes organizational support measures including strengthening leadership, enhancing inter-sectoral coordination, improving regulations and standards, bolstering capacity building, and actively promoting guidance through publicity. The Opinions propose strengthening the development of related disciplines, scientific research, and talent cultivation in the field of EZR policy.

In the next steps, the School of Environment will leverage the strengths of Tsinghua University in environmental disciplines by organizing Tsinghua University’s Center for Strategic Environmental Assessment and relevant faculty teams to focus on discipline development, scientific research, and talent cultivation in the field of EZR. This effort will include intensifying foundational theoretical research and key technology development in the field, and further refining teaching and talent cultivation programs. The school aims to continuously support the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and local governments in implementing the Opinions, contributing Tsinghua’s expertise to the development and improvement of the EZR system and supporting national strategies like the Beautiful China Initiative.