On August 31, 2020, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian hosted a regular press conference. The following is a partial record.

Reporter: US Secretary of State Pompeo tweeted on the 29th that too much of the Chinese Communist Party’s economy is based on wanton disregard for air, land and water quality. The Chinese people and the world deserve better treatment. China is responsible for nearly 30% of the world’s plastic pollution and is the largest emitter of mercury, marine debris and greenhouse gases. What is China's response to this?

Zhao Lijian answered: Mr. Pompeo should take a good look in the mirror and ask himself why the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to environmental protection, incorporates the construction of ecological civilization into the “five-in-one” overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, regards a good ecological environment as the most inclusive welfare of the people, vigorously promotes green, low-carbon and sustainable development, and implements it in depth The three major action plans for the prevention and control of air, water and soil pollution have achieved remarkable results.

At the international level, China earnestly fulfills its treaty obligations such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, the Basel Convention, and the Minamata Convention on Mercury, making positive contributions to global environmental governance.

In 2018, China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 45.8% compared to 2005, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 5.26 billion tons. China is the country that invests the most in renewable energy, and the number of new energy vehicles accounts for more than half of the world.

As early as 2008, China implemented the "plastic limit order" to vigorously promote the recycling of waste plastics. As of the end of 2019, the harmless treatment rate of urban domestic waste across the country was close to 99%. China’s coastal cities have all established garbage classification and "sea sanitation" mechanisms, and actively carry out beach and ocean garbage cleanup activities. Laws and policies such as the "Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals" and the "Thirteenth Five-Year Ecological Environment Protection Plan" have been promulgated, and the objectives, paths and measures for mercury pollution prevention and control have been determined.

In contrast, the United States, as the country with the most accumulated greenhouse gas emissions in the world, neither ratified the Kyoto Protocol nor withdrew from the Paris Agreement, denies its own binding quantitative emission reduction tasks, and is completely isolated from the global carbon emission system and arrangements. It has seriously hindered the process of global emission reduction and promotion of green and low-carbon development.

At the same time, as the world’s largest exporter of solid waste and a major consumer of plastic per capita, the United States has neither ratified the Basel Convention, but has also set up obstacles to the global plastic waste management process, and transferred a large amount of waste waste to developing countries. The local and global environment brought great harm. I think everyone can see at a glance who is wantonly disregarding the global environment and global people's health.