I am the Enabler for a Beautiful China | Everbright International Announces Opening Up of its Environmental Protection Facilities from More Sectors for Public Visits

The 9 November in Nanjing saw the weather welcome the autumn breeze along with the ever-deepening colors of Fall. In the plant area of its Nanjing Waste-to-energy Project, along with the resounding slogan of “I am the Enabler for a Beautiful China”, China Everbright International Limited (“Everbright International” or the “Group”) launched its public open day activity, in which the Group announced to open its environmental protection facilities in China to the public. A launching ceremony was held accordingly. Zhuang Guotai, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China (“PRC”), together with Wang Tianyi, CEO of Everbright International, attended the event and delivered their speeches.

Before the ceremony began, a team of guests led by Zhuang Guotai, accompanied by Wang Tianyi, visited the Group’s Nanjing Waste-to-energy Project, learning details about the functions of different areas of the project and the project’s operational procedures. The guests listened to the introduction about the project in front of a big screen showing real-team emission data of the project. According to the guide’s introduction, “Everbright International was the first in China to disclose its project gas emission data online.” Then, when the guests walked across the green areas of the project decorated by golden leaves, the guide proudly said that “Everbright International’s waste-to-energy project is not only a power plant but also a garden with trees that produce pleasant shades and some small bridges over the flowing stream, making the plant’s environment very beautiful.” Mr. Zhuang and the other guests also visited the control room where the operators control garbage cranes, the central control room, etc. They all expressed recognition and appreciation for the Group’s high-quality project construction and excellent proficiency in operations management.

The launching ceremony was presided over by Cai Shuguang, Special Assistant to CEO of Everbright International. More than 200 representatives from environmental department of governments at the state and provincial levels, provinces, media and the public attended the ceremony. Zhuang Guotai; Kou Xin, Deputy Officer of the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization; Liu Youbin, Director of the Department of Publicity and Education of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the PRC; Yang Haiying, Associate Director of the Department of Urban Development of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the PRC; Zhang Lefu, Deputy Secretary-General of the Jiangsu Provincial Government; Wang Tianqi, Director of Department of Ecology and Environment of Jiangsu Provincial Government, and Guo Mingyan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Nanjing Municipal Government, and other staff members from the government attended the ceremony together with Wang Tianyi, jointly celebrating the public open day initiative. Many expressed their appreciation for the significant contribution Everbright International has made regarding to the public open day initiative, as well as their expectations for the Group to shoulder more social responsibilities and achieve greater development in the future.

At the ceremony, Wang Tianyi addressed the audience with a speech, welcoming all the guests and appreciating their participation. Following an overview of Everbright International’s development, he pointed out that openness is the most effective way to address the “Not In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) effect, an action of enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities of addressing pollution, and also a powerful driving force for the pursuit of green development. On the other hand, openness is the public rights and the responsibility of enterprises. From enterprises’ perspective, openness not only nurtures good interaction between self-discipline and regulations, but also demonstrates their confidence and strengths.

Wang Tianyi pointed out with confidence that Everbright International has always adhered to the principle of “Creating Better Investment Value and Undertaking More Social Responsibility”, and follows its corporate mission of being “Devoted to Ecology and Environment for a Beautiful China”. The Group achieved the four “First” in the domestic waste-to-energy industry. Throughout construction works and operations management, the Group’s projects have proven performance in four aspects: factory appearance, odor management, noise control and emission indicators. It has also established an environmental management department to perform internal supervision duties. In the future, Everbright International will take the lead to launch more initiatives to make continued contributions to the opening-up of environmental protection facilities to the public for a beautiful China. At the ceremony, Wang Tianyi also shared an update that Everbright International was included into the Green Supply Chain CITI Index for the first time and also ranked the top in the annual brand list of the environmental protection sector.

At the launching ceremony, Zhuang Guotai delivered a speech with passion and insights. He said, “I have been deeply impressed by the outcome from the opening up of Everbright International’s Nanjing Waste-to-energy Project to the public. Based on its years of efforts, Everbright International has developed many good practices that should be fully acknowledged.” While further emphasising on the significance of opening environmental protection facilities to the public, he also pointed out that the promotion of opening environmental protection facilities to the public is a way to implement relevant planning of the central government, as well as an important measure to implement Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilisation. He suggested that enterprises should continue opening their environmental protection facilities to prevent and resolve social issues caused by the NIMBY effect. He also expected that the opening of environmental protection facilities could play a role in promoting environmental education, while continuously improve the environmental management proficiency of these facilities under public supervision. Accordingly, the opening of environmental protection facilities for public visits should be gradually institutionalised and standardised as a normal practice.

Following the launching ceremony, a working seminar was held regarding opening environmental protection facilities to the public nationwide, at Nanjing Waste-to-energy Project. Zhuang Guotai, together with representatives of the environmental protection departments at provincial and city levels, enterprises and research institutions, deliberated on the working progress in the public open day initiative. They also discussed the major difficult issues arising from the implementation of the initiative, and planned for the next stage. With a tight schedule and a simple set-up, the seminar was efficient and fruitful, drawing wide attention and praise from the attendees and the public.

In the afternoon of 8 November, Wang Tianyi was invited for interviews in Nanjing with several key media, and also exchanged ideas with officials from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the PRC.