Nanchang: New Explorations in Low-Carbon Development

Lower Carbon Emissions

Already below the national average, Nanchang is on the road to even lower carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP. In November 2009, China promised to cut carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40 to 45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, while Nanchang made a more ambitious plan to cut them by 48 percent.

Low-carbon development is the key to achieving this goal, and city planners have initiated a series of carefully calculated measures that will secure the fall of emissions without hindering economic development. As a result, low-carbon, energy efficient strategies are applied in the city’s pillar industries. Adjustments are also being made to its industrial structure, and it is setting higher standards and developing new energy industries, energy efficient lighting, bio-pharmaceuticals, new materials, and aviation and services, including outsourcing and tourism. Industries that guzzle resources and spew out excessive pollution are strictly forbidden.

Nanchang is also included in a cooperative project between China and Britain, which investigated carbon emissions in several potential low-carbon cities in 2009. The British Strategic Program Fund will allow the city to draw on the UK’s previous successful experience in developing the low-carbon economy, giving greater cause for confidence in Nanchang’s future success.

Greening Industry

Nanchang has given extra support to the creation and markets of environmentally friendly products. The city has set up eight bases for industries such as low-energy lighting and service outsourcing. It has also established exemplary zones dedicated to such areas as low-carbon industries, residences, agriculture and tourism and ecological gardening. So far, low-carbon industries make up 30 percent of all industrial sectors in Nanchang with more and more projects finding a home there.

Furthermore, after years of trial work, Jiangxi Province made a decision in June this year to establish the Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone in Nanchang. It will cover 600 square km and integrate services, agriculture, tourism and new industries. The government has invested little in it. Instead, most funds have come from the general public, banks and other finance channels. The zone is set to be completed in 2020 and the greater part will remain pastoral, with Poyang Lake’s original character preserved, and will form an integral part of Nanchang’s low-carbon development and its identity as a modern city.

Lighting Local Lives

The benefits introduced with the new development plan have also made the everyday lives and work of local residents more convenient. They include the greater application of natural gas, a free bicycle service and discounted low-energy light bulbs.

More than 500 new-energy motor vehicles have been introduced into the public transport system and government offices. Another 500 will come into service this year. Low-carbon LED lighting can be found everywhere in the city, with 1,000 environmentally friendly bulbs lighting up the public roads.

Buildings in the housing development of Honggutan New District are also environmentally friendly, with construction consuming less energy than the national standard and earning the city much praise.

As well as all this, many new trees have been planted around the city, with the ultimate goal of creating a city immersed in trees.

Globalization

To better promote its green development Nanchang is also reaching out to the international community, building consistent relationships with such environmental groups as the WWF and the Climate Group.

The city has carried out exchanges on green development with the governments of Austria, the U.K., Germany and the U.S., among others. In 2010, it signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Transport and Science of Austria for long-term, comprehensive and multi-field low-carbon development cooperation. Now they are working together on a green development plan for Nanchang, with some projects already in progress. Nanchang is also making headway in promoting green development globally. The World Low-Carbon and Eco-Economy Conference is a big step forward in this. It is co-organized by eight central government departments and the Jiangxi provincial government and will be held in Nanchang biennially. As the pilot continues, regular attendees of the conference can look forward to seeing dramatic progress with every return, and the city is well on the way to becoming an international model for city development.