A breath-taking view of Wuxia Gorge in Chongqing, the second of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. [Photo by Wang Zhengkun/Chongqing Daily]

Chongqing municipality in Southwest China has been advancing the ecological restoration and accelerating the green transition in every aspect of its economic and social development over the past six years, in response to the central government's call for the sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, in which three cities – Chongqing (in the upper reaches), Wuhan (in the middle reaches), and Nanjing (in the lower reaches) – have significant roles to play.

Unprecedented changes have taken place in Chongqing. From January to November last year, the water quality in the Chongqing section of the Yangtze River was assessed as Class II, and all centralized drinking water sources in the municipality reached the standard level.

Chongqing also achieved remarkable results in forest and wetland protection, with its forest coverage rate rising from 45.4 percent in 2015 to 52.5 percent last year.

Clean production diagnoses have been carried out at 1,116 local enterprises, bringing in investments of 170 million yuan ($26.67 million) and saving 44,000 metric tons of standard coal and 418,000 tons of water.