Guizhou, located in the southwest of China, is using an ecological pen to paint a gorgeous green picture along her mountains and rivers. From an 'Experimental Zone' to a 'Pilot Zone', Guizhou has embarked on a new path of green development characterized with prosperous economy, wealthy people and ecological beauty.
Significant Improvement in Eco-environment
Guizhou persists in winning the 'Five Major Battles' of pollution prevention and control and coordinates the integrated eco-restoration of mountains, rivers, lakes, farmland, forests, grasslands and deserts. By 2024, the ambient air quality in 9 key cities and 88 counties in Guizhou has met Grade II, and the overall surface water quality has been remarkable. The excellent water quality rate of 222 monitoring sections of major rivers is 99.1%, and that of 23 exit sections reaches 100%. The water quality compliance rate of centralized drinking water sources at or above the county level remains 100%.
The Wushui River (Wuyang River) in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture has been successfully selected as one of the Outstanding Cases of Beautiful Rivers and Lakes in China. Since 2019, the water quality in Qiandongnan Prefecture has been among the top 10 in China for six consecutive years. Mr. Wu Hougui, a member of the Loong Boat Team in Ximen Community, Zhenyuan County, said, 'The Loong Boat Competition tradition can not be inherited for thousands of years without lucid waters and lush mountains.'
Flourishing Green Industries
Guizhou is accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, integrating green and low-carbon concept throughout the entire process of high-quality development. Guizhou has successfully established 85 national level green factories and 22 green industrial parks. The green economy accounts for about 48%.
The first commercial hydrogen locomotive in China has started trial operation on Guizhou Meijin Railway Special Line in Zhongshan District, Liupanshui City, opening up a new path for clean coal transportation. The construction of 'Electric Guizhou' has achieved fruitful results. Since the beginning of 2025, a total of 3,054 electric heavy-duty trucks have been promoted and applied in the energy sector, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 332,000 tons.
The forestry has also achieved a huge leap forward. In 2014, the total output value of Guizhou's forestry was only 60.1 billion yuan, and it exceeded 465.4 billion yuan in 2024. Over the past decade, the forest coverage rate has increased from 49% to 63.3%, with a forest area of 166 million mu.
Innovative Eco-protection System
In 2024, Guizhou took the lead in establishing a unified and standardized mechanism for issuing forestry carbon tickets at the provincial level in China, granting the first batch of 10 provincial forestry carbon tickets and achieving a total of 11 million yuan in transactions. In addition, a total of 120 water rights transactions have been completed, with a transaction volume of 86.0287 million cubic meters, amounting to 31.5387 million yuan.
Public Participation in Eco-construction
Guizhou's tradition of 'Tree Planting for New Year Celebrations' has continued for 11 years, with 605 million more seedlings newly planted here. Since the 14 th Five-Year-Plan, Guizhou has shifted its greening focus from 'coverage expansion' to 'quality improvement'. Through projects such as degraded forest restoration and forest nurturing, the forest has been both 'greened' and 'increased in value'.
Meanwhile, with both 'civil defense and technical defense', Guizhou has successfully protected the ecological foundation. For instance, there are 87 remote video surveillance points established in Guiyang to prevent forest fire. There are 400 infrared cameras installed to track the rare species in Mount Fanjing and more than 40,000 forest chiefs ready to guard forest resources. Collaborative mechanisms such as 'forest chief+procurator' and 'forest chief+sheriff' have formed a comprehensive matrix for ecological protection.
Efficient Resource Utilization and Green Transformation
Guizhou has implemented the strategy of 'Refined Development of Rich Minerals' to promote efficient utilization of resources. In the field of phosphorus chemical industry, Qiannan Prefecture has laid out modern chemical and new energy battery material industries, realizing the transformation of phosphorus from 'fertilizer' to 'material'. The total output value of phosphorus based modern chemical and new energy battery materials has exceeded 50 billion yuan. Furthermore, in the field of aluminum industry, Shuicheng Economic Development Zone has achieved 100% in-situ conversion of aluminum liquid, and the number of aluminum related enterprises has increased from 1 in 2016 to 54.
Guizhou is also actively developing the cultural tourism industry and digital economy. The Zhenyuan Loong Boat Race Cultural Festival has unleashed the consumption potential of cultural tourism. During the Loong Boat Festival this year, Zhenyuan County received 253,900 tourists, realizing a total tourism revenue of 234 million yuan. Additionally, Guizhou's digital economy growth rate has been among the top in the country for 9 consecutive years. There are 48 national key data centers under construction and in operation, making Guizhou one of the regions with the most intelligent computing resources and the strongest capabilities in China.
Source: Guizhou Environmental Protection Industry Association