China Matters' Features: How China's Guizhou Protects Its Ecosystem

China Matters releases a talk show series on the development of southwest China's Guizhou Province. The six-episode talk show, named The Talk with Guizhou, invites six guests from China and abroad to share their views on topics such as how Guizhou promotes rural revitalization, how local culture can give a boost to its tourism industry and how the province can build a better ecosystem.

In this episode, China Matters talks to William Brown, a professor at China's Xiamen University. Brown has stayed in China for over three decades. In 2019, he travelled around China again after his first trip in 1994, and Guizhou was one of his destinations.

"When I drove around China in 1994, Guizhou was one of the worst places for roads," says Brown, "but in 2019, my goodness, the roads, the highways, the tunnels, the beautiful bridges across these deep valleys, the infrastructure was as good as anywhere else in China."

Brown also talks about how Guizhou strives to build a better ecosystem.

After years of afforestation efforts, the forest coverage growth rate and amount of reforested farmland in Guizhou ranked first in China. One of the means that contributed to the achievement is the tree-planting program, which endeavors to trap carbon emissions and combat poverty. Companies and individuals across China can pay to offset their carbon footprint while people in less developed areas in Guizhou are paid for tree planting.

"They are using this to not only protect the environment, but also improve people's livelihood," says Brown, "so it's very holistic in their thinking, protecting the environment and environment first."

Contact: Li Shengnan

Tel: 0086-13701304527

E-mail: snli@cnmatters.com

YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/9n5FkbdRpoo