An aerial view of Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong in Jiangsu province. [Photo/WeChat account: qidongfabu]

Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong in Jiangsu province, has made significant progress improving its environment and protecting its biodiversity in recent years.

From January to July, the PM2.5 concentration in the city was 24.4 micrograms per cubic meter, a decrease of 2.8 percentage points year-on-year. The proportion of days with good air quality was 84.4 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, the water quality of all 17 municipal-level sections in the city reached at least level III.

Every year, the tidal flats outside the Jianghai Lanwan Tourism Resort attract tens of thousands of migratory birds from Australia and other places. Nearly a thousand wild egrets hover near the woods on the west bank of the Touxinggang River in the urban area.

The city has invested heavily in energy-saving and emissions-reducing projects, such as upgrading coal-fired power plants, introducing high-efficiency and low-pollution equipment, and developing rooftop photovoltaic power generation.

For example, in 2022, Datang Lyusi Port Power Plant completed high-low pressure industrial heating transformation, reducing coal consumption by 50,900 metric tons per year, dust emissions by 4.6 tons per year, and nitrogen oxide emissions by 23.3 tons per year.

The city has also taken the lead in recycling and disposing of pesticide packaging waste and made farmland irrigation and drainage systems more environmentally friendly, reducing pollution in rural areas.