Source: People's Daily - Anhui Channel Original draft
Recently, in the anqing section of the Yangtze River, five or six porpoises frolicked in the water, so unhappy. Finless porpoises like to be alone, and occasionally they flock in groups of three, and it is rare for several to gather this time. "I haven't seen a porpoise for a long time, and seeing it this time shows that the environment in this area of water is getting better and better." Local people said.
It's not just the Anqing section of the Yangtze River that's getting better and better. In recent years, looking at the land of Jianghuai, the improvement of the ecological environment has been obvious to all: the sky is bluer, the water is clearer, and the mountains are greener... Behind the improvement is not only the joint efforts of the whole of Anhui to fight the tough battle against pollution, but also the active investment of the province's finances. "The 'high' investment of funds has been exchanged for the 'low' of pollutant indicators." The person in charge of the Resources and Environment Division of the Department of Finance of Anhui Province said.
Over the years, the improvement of Anhui's ecological environment has been obvious to all: the sky is bluer, the water is cleaner, and the mountains are greener. The picture shows the beautiful Akiura River. People's Daily reporter Miao Zijian photographed
In Anhui, it is the consensus of financial personnel to take the investment of ecological environment funds as a basic and strategic investment to ensure key guarantees.
The Anhui channel of the People's Daily learned that during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the province's financial ecological and environmental protection related expenditures reached a total of 139.9 billion yuan, accounting for an increasing proportion of general budget expenditure. At the same time, the cumulative amount of central financial ecological and environmental protection funds is 45.4 billion yuan, an average annual growth of 10%.
With financial support, the quality of Anhui's ecological environment has been newly improved, and the average concentration of PM2.5 in the province in 2021 is 34.9 micrograms per cubic meter, the proportion of excellent days is 84.6%, and the proportion of excellent water quality in the national examination section is 83.5%, all of which have reached the best level since the monitoring record. The restoration of biodiversity in key river basins has been accelerated, and the Yangtze River has reproduced the natural landscape of wild porpoises.
The recently issued "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Deeply Fighting the Battle against Pollution" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") proposes to fight the battle to defend blue skies, clear waters and pure land with higher standards. The 11th Party Congress of Anhui Province held in 2021 proposed to "accelerate the construction of a modern and beautiful Anhui with a strong economy, a new pattern, an excellent environment, sufficient vitality, and a rich people".
In this context, what new actions will Anhui finance do?
"We will benchmark the "Opinions" and the requirements of the provincial party committee and the provincial government, increase the total amount of investment, strive for central support, strengthen provincial overall planning, identify hot spots such as 'double carbon', and accurately implement policies to help the improvement of the ecological environment in the province from quantitative change to qualitative change, and enhance the sense of gain and happiness of the masses." said the above-mentioned person in charge.
In the Anhui fiscal system, there is still a lot of work carried out using the "high" and "low" methodologies.
In 2021, in order to stabilize investment, expand domestic demand, make up for shortcomings, and alleviate the pressure of repayment of mature debts, Anhui issued a total of 281.5 billion yuan of local government bonds, an increase of 20.87% year-on-year, and the scale of issuance hit a record high. In stark contrast, thanks to the proper grasp of the issuance time window, the weighted average issuance interest rate for the whole year was 3.37%, lower than the provincial average in the previous year, and the financing cost was significantly reduced.
With financial support, Anhui won the battle against poverty with precision as scheduled. The picture shows the poverty alleviation households in Chuzhou, Anhui Province, picking mustard fruit. People's Daily Wang Rui
The same is true of the use of poverty alleviation funds. "In the past, when local poverty alleviation funds were used, the combination of 'blood transfusion' and 'hematopoiesis' was not enough." The person in charge of the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Department of the Department of Finance of Anhui Province said that in this regard, the financial department, together with the former poverty alleviation department, took the lead in promoting the construction of the county-level poverty alleviation project database in the country, adhered to the development-oriented poverty alleviation orientation, and stimulated the endogenous motivation of the poor masses. "The efficient use of poverty alleviation funds has led to a continuous reduction in the number of poor people and a significant reduction in the probability of returning to poverty after poverty alleviation."
In recent years, in response to the pain points in the government procurement process, the Anhui financial department has seen tricks. According to the person in charge of the Government Procurement Department of the Department of Finance of Anhui Province, on the one hand, from June 2021, all government procurement projects in the province will be exempted from bidding (response) deposits; on the other hand, the time for signing contracts and paying funds for government procurement projects has been compressed from 30 days to less than 10 working days. Under a series of measures, market players have realized the transformation from "high cost and low efficiency" to "low cost and high efficiency" when carrying out related business.
High investment, in exchange for low pollution, brought green water and green mountains; a record high scale of government bond issuance, in exchange for a low level of issuance interest rate, reducing financing costs; low-profile services in the government procurement process, in exchange for the efficient promotion of procurement projects, the business environment further optimized... Between "high" and "low", Anhui finance makes good use of live financial funds, improves people's livelihood and well-being, and serves high-quality development.