Zhou Jinglu/Shanghai Daily news

Economic growth and environmental conservation have always seemed like two very different concerns. However, the Jiangyin government has been putting stiff environmental policies into practice this year.
As of late, the city has had an increasing focus on environmental matters and has a balanced view in terms of supporting both the environment and the economy, believing both are equally important factors in Jiangyin's development.
The measures undertaken by the government include the planting of trees along the eight major streets of Jiangyin city, the enlargement of many public parks and other parks. For example, Daqiao, Chaoyang and Huangshanhu parks have been rebuilt and planted out.
A number of policies have also been adopted that focus on improving residents' quality of life.
For example, 100 million yuan (US$12.34 million) was spent last year in an attempt to clean 1,200 polluted rivers in and around the city. This involved the establishment of polluted water disposal factories, which de-contaminate the water through filtration processes.
Another important effort made by the city is the thorough checking of vegetables on sale at local markets. The government aims at holding regular spot checks in an effort to ensure no chemicals are present in market vegetables.
Environmental balance has also been improved through the closing of all mines in Jiangyin city. On June 8 last year, the government forced 92 mines in Jingyan city to close in an attempt to protect the nearby mountains from being overmined.
The mountains, accounting for more than 170 hectares of land space, are slowly recovering from their once barren appearance.
However, the impact had by the reforms is most clearly seen in the changes within local companies.
More than 90 percent of companies in Jiangyin are noted as having significantly smaller amounts of pollution since the the environmental efforts were put into place.
According to recent research, the government has turned down 340 projects which would have been significant polluters over the past three years. Additionally, nearly 100 companies have been forced to install water quality monitoring systems.
More than 15 percent of the city's area is made up of scenic spots and as such, are protected from chemical factories. In the past five years, this protection effort has led to the relocation of a number of factories.
In addition to these measures, three scenic parks have been established within this year.
The government has pledged to continue the development of the economy while focusing on environmental preservation throughout the next several years.