“In recent years, the concept of green consumption is gradually popularized in the whole society, but there are still phenomena of waste and unreasonable consumption in some fields.” Chang Tiewei, deputy director of the employment, income distribution and consumption Department of the national development and Reform Commission, said at a press conference on the 21st that the demand for green consumption still needs to be stimulated and released, the long-term mechanism for promoting green consumption needs to be improved, and the supporting role of green consumption in high-quality economic development needs to be further improved.
Cultivating green concept and promoting green consumption is the internal requirement of promoting high-quality economic development, which is of great significance to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization. The implementation plan for promoting green consumption recently issued by the national development and Reform Commission and other departments was officially announced on the same day. Relevant heads of the national development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments attended the press conference to introduce the promotion of green consumption and related programs.
Chang Tiewei introduced that the scheme systematically designed the system and policy system to promote green consumption, including 22 key tasks and policy measures in four aspects: comprehensively promoting the green transformation of consumption in key areas, strengthening the support of green consumption technology and services, establishing and improving the green consumption system guarantee system, and improving the incentive and restraint policies of green consumption.
Liu Qiong, deputy director of the Department of resource conservation and environmental protection of the national development and Reform Commission, introduced that the program takes grain conservation and anti food waste as an important part of green consumption. The first key task is to “accelerate the improvement of the green level of food consumption”, put forward to strengthen the whole chain of grain conservation and reduction, clarify the responsibility requirements for all kinds of consumers and encourage green consumption, Oppose extravagance and waste and advocate a simple, moderate, green and low-carbon lifestyle.
Resolutely stopping food waste is one of the main tasks of the Ministry of Commerce to promote green consumption. Wang Bin, deputy director of the Department of market operation and consumption promotion of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in the first three quarters of 2021, businesses providing small dishes on the catering takeout platform increased by 25.4% year-on-year, and the number of people who chose to buy takeout without tableware exceeded 100 million.
According to Wang Bin, in recent years, the Ministry of Commerce has made great efforts to cultivate green circulation subjects, resolutely stop catering waste, promote green development of e-commerce, expand green automobile consumption and strengthen green consumption publicity. So far, more than 500 green shopping malls have been created in China, of which nearly 200 will be added in 2021. During the “double 11” period in 2021, the turnover of energy-saving electric fans and energy-saving central air conditioners increased by 274.1% and 118.1% respectively year-on-year. In 2021, Shanxi Guoxin Energy Corporation Limited(600617) car sales increased by 1.6 times year-on-year. The ownership of new energy vehicles accounts for about half of the global ownership of new energy vehicles.
“Revitalizing the second-hand car transaction can not only drive the consumption of new cars, but also promote the echelon utilization of vehicles and improve the efficiency of resource utilization.” Wang Bin said that in 2021, the proportion of second-hand car trading volume in new car sales in China reached 0.67, a record high. According to statistics, the proportion of second-hand car transfer in China in 2021 was 27.3%, and the national unified second-hand car market accelerated to form.
The plan proposes to vigorously promote the green transformation of public institutions’ consumption. Zhu Chengyi, director of the energy conservation management department of public institutions of the State Administration, said that he took the lead in vigorously promoting the green transformation of consumption in public institutions and played an important demonstration and leading role in promoting green consumption in the whole society. The following work will be carried out:
Promote public institutions, cadres and workers to give priority to the purchase and use of new energy vehicles, appropriately increase the proportion of new energy vehicles in the public sector of Party and government organs, build new and existing parking lots within public institutions, and strengthen the allocation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure; Actively promote green office, improve the use efficiency of office equipment and assets, encourage paperless office and double-sided printing, and encourage the use of recycled products; Strictly implement the regulations of Party and government organs on strict economy and anti waste, refine and clarify the standards of various official activities, improve the proportion of video conferences, and strictly manage official vehicles; Encourage and promote civilized and thrifty activities, and promote the publicity and education of green consumption into government organs and schools; Regularly carry out anti food waste actions, promote public institutions to establish and improve canteen dining management system, and formulate and implement measures to prevent food waste; Comprehensively promote the establishment of energy-saving organs, and strive to build more than 80% of Party and government organs at and above the county level into energy-saving organs by the end of 2025.
The green product standard, certification and identification system plays a positive role in promoting the construction of green consumer market system. Bo Yumin, deputy director of the certification and supervision department of the State Administration of market supervision, introduced that 18 national standards for green product evaluation have been issued, 3 batches of green product evaluation standard lists and certified product catalogs have been issued, and nearly 90 products of 19 categories have been included in the scope of certification. Next, we will steadily expand the scope of certification, explore the evaluation of relevant industry standards and group standards, and timely include them in the list of green product evaluation standards and certification catalogue.
“The plan is just a good start. The key to the next step is to keep stepping on the stone and grasping the iron with a trace.” Ha Zengyou, director of the employment, income distribution and consumption Department of the national development and Reform Commission, said.
