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DONGGUAN, China, Apr. 22, 2021 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

"The City of Courage", the first episode of Dongguan's city image video series

This Is Dongguan, is set to be released globally on Earth Day, April 22. The

remaining three episodes will subsequently be aired in on European televisions

and websites, such as France 24 in France, LA7 in Italy and German business,

news and travel media. Committed to sustainability, the southern Chinese city

presents the world with a Chinese approach to develop the economy in harmony

with ecology.

Unveiling the city's brand-new promotional video on Earth Day 2021, said the

staff from Dongguan Municipal Government, shows how it values the protection of

ecological environment as a responsible member of the international community.

And the first episode explores the way Dongguan strikes a balance between

economic growth and environmental protection.

With a large number of population, industrial enterprises, river branches,

vehicles, and high level of urban land development, the city now stands to face

harsh realities in improving sewage treatment. In recent years, Dongguan has

taken a comprehensive and coordinated approach to eco-environment management.

To this end, policies and measures have been adopted to lower the number of big

polluters responsible for high energy consumption and the inefficient use of

resources. Some major polluters were shut down. Meantime, the future-oriented

city draws a blueprint for strategic emerging industries that aim to drive the

economy more by innovation than by production factors. Its other priorities

include the upgrade of manufacturing, technological innovation, and sustainable

development.

The series is about a story of a family of four, also an epitome of how the

vibrant city pursues an eco-friendly and quality lifestyle, said Chen Songzhu,

one of the scriptwriters of This Is Dongguan. Improving the ecological

environment, optimizing the economic structure and enhancing urban qualities

are not ideas the film makes up, but are rooted in the city's actual practices.

The set was mostly based on the sites deemed ecological governance successes,

such as Huayang Lake, Songshan Lake Eco-park, Tongsha Reservoir, and Binhai Bay

New Area.

As the little girl at the end of the first episode pictures the future of

Dongguan, the Binhaiwan Bay Area emerges not just as a cooperation platform

with the Greater Bay Area characteristics defined by the Outline Development

Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, but an example to

maintain a balance between ecological governance and economic growth.

The estuary of Maozhou River where the New Area is located was strongly

salinized tideland with severe coastal corrosion which rendered it completely

barren, according to workers there. To accelerate the shaping of an enabling

environment, further protect coastal zones, and put them into better use, the

New Area has taken a host of measures, including soil remediation (silt

replacement and soil salinity control), coast management (planting mangroves

and other wetland plants), and park landscaping (paving viewing plank roads,

maintaining lawns, and building dry streams). All these efforts have developed

the once-tideland into a coastal eco-wetland, where winding footpaths, lush

plants, and well-kept lawns complement each other.

"For a post-pandemic age, it is a matter of shared concern to the global

community regarding how to develop cities and get its economy back on track.

Whatever path a country chooses, the response to climate change and

environmental protection will still be in the interests of all. The way

Dongguan pursues its development is yet to be improved, but preliminary

benefits have been delivered," noted Li Jinyi, associate professor at Jinan

University.

Today, Dongguan leads the country in sustainability and environmental

protection. "The transition of an industrial and export-oriented city like

Dongguan into a resource-efficient city has a major influence not only on the

city's circular economy, but also on the circular economy globally," a 2019

UNEP report remarked.

"Hopefully the video series will encourage the world to embrace green and

low-carbon production and create a better life, while showing the city's

willingness to join hands with other global counterparts to restore our Earth,"

said the staff from Dongguan Municipal Government.

Source: Dongguan Municipal Government