Opinions of the general office of the State Council on encouraging and supporting social capital to participate in ecological protection and restoration

Circular of the general office of the State Council on encouragement and support

Opinions on social capital participating in ecological protection and restoration

GBF [2021] No. 40

People's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, ministries and commissions under the State Council and institutions directly under the State Council:

Ecological protection and restoration is an important guarantee to keep the natural ecological security boundary and promote the overall improvement of the quality of natural ecosystem. For a long time, in some areas of China, the problem of ecosystem damage and degradation is prominent, there are many historical debts, and the tasks of ecological protection and restoration are large and wide, so it is necessary to mobilize the whole society to participate. In order to further promote the participation of social capital in ecological construction and accelerate the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, with the consent of the State Council, the following opinions are put forward.

1、 General requirements

（1） Guiding ideology.Guided by Xi Jinping's socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era, we carried out the spirit of the nineteen and nineteen second, third, fourth and fifth plenary sessions of the party in China, thoroughly implemented the ecological civilization ideology of Xi Jinping, conscientiously implemented the decision making arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the state Council, firmly established the concept of "green water Castle Peak", namely, the beautiful scenery of Jinshan and Yinshan, and fully played the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources. Give better play to the role of the government, focus on key areas, stimulate market vitality, promote high-quality development of ecological protection and restoration, increase the supply of high-quality ecological products, maintain national ecological security, build an ecological civilization system and promote the construction of a beautiful China.

（2） Working principles.

Adhere to protection priority and system repair.Following the laws of nature, we will coordinate all elements of natural ecology, focus on natural restoration, supplemented by necessary artificial measures, enhance the relevance and coupling of various measures, promote the overall protection, system restoration and comprehensive treatment of mountains, rivers, forests, lakes, grass and sand, and improve the quality and stability of the ecosystem.

Adhere to government leadership and market operation.Give play to the role of government planning and control, policy support, regulatory services and risk prevention, unify market access, standardize market order, establish open and transparent market rules, create a fair, fair and open investment environment for social capital, build a sustainable return and reasonable exit mechanism, and realize the gain, return and return of social capital. It is strictly prohibited to carry out development in the name of ecological protection and restoration, break through the red line of cultivated land protection and ecological protection, and all kinds of acts in violation of laws and regulations.

Adhere to goal orientation and problem orientation.Focusing on the construction of an ecological protection and restoration market mechanism of "who will repair, who will benefit", we will focus on solving problems such as lack of information, financing difficulties, scattered policies, unclear incentives and support measures, and imperfect transaction mechanism and return mechanism, so as to promote the unity of ecological benefits and economic and social benefits.

Adhere to reform, innovation and coordinated promotion.We will strengthen coordination with the reform of the property right system of natural resources assets, the value realization mechanism of ecological products and the compensation mechanism for ecological protection, coordinate the necessary investment and reasonable return, unblock the channels for social capital participation and benefit, innovate incentive mechanisms, support policies and investment and financing modes, and stimulate the investment potential and innovation power of social capital.

2、 Participation mechanism

（3） Participation content.Encourage and support social capital to participate in the whole process of investment, design, restoration and management of ecological protection and restoration projects, carry out activities such as ecological product development, industrial development, scientific and technological innovation and technical services around ecological protection and restoration, and carry out life-cycle operation and management of regional ecological protection and restoration. Focus on encouraging and supporting social capital to participate in ecological protection and restoration based on the responsibility of government expenditure (including loss of responsible persons, caused by natural disasters, etc.). For the ecological protection and restoration with clear responsible persons, they shall fulfill their obligations and bear the responsibility of restoration or compensation according to law.

（4） Participation mode.

1. Independent investment mode.Social capital contributes to ecological protection and restoration alone or in the form of consortium and industrial alliance.

2. Mode of cooperation with the government.Social capital can set up funds according to the principle of marketization to invest in ecological protection and restoration projects. For projects with stable operating income, government and social capital cooperation (PPP) and other modes can be adopted. Local governments can support social capital to obtain reasonable returns by means of investment subsidies, operation subsidies and capital injection.

3. Public welfare participation model.Encourage public welfare organizations and individuals to cooperate with the government and its departments to participate in ecological protection and restoration and jointly build ecological civilization.

Social capital can obtain benefits from ecological protection and restoration in the following ways: adopt the method of "ecological protection and restoration + industrial introduction", and use the obtained natural resource asset use right or franchise right to develop appropriate industries; For the ecosystem with carbon sink capacity formed by investment and meeting relevant requirements, apply for certification of carbon sink increment and trade; Obtain income through comprehensive utilization of Resources approved by the government.

（5） Participate in the program.Actively explore flexible and efficient working procedures in combination with reality, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm of social capital to participate in ecological protection and restoration. Generally, the following procedures can be adopted:

1. Scientifically establish ecological protection and restoration projects.Adhere to the problem orientation, and determine the tasks and key projects of ecological protection and restoration according to the land spatial planning, ecological protection and restoration planning and other plans at all levels and the requirements of relevant standards.

2. Reasonably formulate ecological protection and restoration schemes.On the basis of widely soliciting social opinions, reasonably determine the ecological protection and restoration scheme of the project, clarify the ecological protection and restoration objectives or core indicators, the asset allocation of natural resources (among which the mineral resources are only limited to the sand, stone and clay that can only be used as ordinary building materials mined due to the project) and the requirements for subsequent industrial development. If the interests of relevant subjects are involved, consensus shall be reached through consultation.

3. Open competition introduces the main body of ecological protection and restoration.Publicize the ecological protection and restoration plan, corresponding natural resource asset allocation plan, various index transfer and support policies, determine the main body of ecological protection and restoration and the user of natural resource assets through competition, sign natural resource asset allocation agreements such as ecological protection and restoration agreement and land transfer contract, and clarify the restoration requirements Rights and obligations of all parties and liabilities for breach of contract.

4. Standardize the market-oriented trading of ecological protection and restoration products.Explore the establishment of trading channels for natural resource assets and ecological protection and restoration products, publicly publish product trading rules, enterprise credit rating and other information, and standardize market-oriented transactions by relying on the public resource trading platform system.

3、 Key areas

（6） Natural ecosystem protection and restoration.In view of the damaged, degraded and degraded natural ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, rivers, lakes and deserts, we will carry out desertification prevention and control, rocky desertification prevention and control, water and soil loss control, river protection and control, wildlife population protection and restoration, biodiversity protection, land greening, artificial commercial forest construction, etc. Comprehensively improve the carbon sequestration capacity of the ecosystem, increase the increment of carbon sequestration, and encourage the development of carbon sequestration projects. Scientific assessment defines the scope of protection and construction of nature reserves, and guides local residents and public welfare organizations to participate in activities such as science popularization and education, natural experience, scientific experiments and franchise projects.

（7） Farmland ecosystem protection and restoration.In view of the farmland ecosystem with weakened ecological function, reduced biodiversity and prominent contradiction between development and utilization and ecological protection, carry out comprehensive land improvement throughout the region, implement agricultural land consolidation, construction land consolidation, rural ecological protection and restoration, land reclamation and biodiversity protection, and improve farmland habitat and conditions.

（8） Urban ecosystem protection and restoration.In view of the poor connectivity of urban ecosystems and insufficient ecological space, we will implement the construction of ecological corridors, ecologically clean small watersheds, ecological infrastructure and ecological networks to improve the quality and stability of urban ecosystems.

（9） Mine ecological protection and restoration.In view of the prominent ecological and environmental problems existing in historical mines, we will implement the treatment of hidden dangers of geological disasters, the restoration of vegetation on damaged land of mines, the restoration of damaged ecological units, etc., rebuild the ecosystem and reasonably carry out the ecological utilization after restoration; Participate in the construction of green mines and improve the level of economical and intensive utilization of mineral resources.

（10） Marine ecological protection and restoration.In view of the degradation of marine habitat, the invasion of alien species and other problems, we will implement the reclamation and return to the sea, the regulation and restoration of shoreline beaches, the comprehensive management of estuaries and bays, the maintenance of important ecological corridors in the coastal zone, the proliferation of aquatic biological resources, habitat protection, etc. Explore the ecological protection and restoration of uninhabited islands with ecological damage without changing the island's natural resources, natural landscape and historical and cultural relics, and allow appropriate ecological utilization.

（11） Explore the development of ecological industry.Encourage and support investment in circular agriculture (Forestry), ecotourism, leisure and health care, nature education, clean energy and water resources utilization, marine ecological pasture, etc; Develop economic forest industry and characteristic industries such as grass, sand, bamboo, Camellia oleifera and biomass energy; Participate in river protection and regulation, and enjoy priority rights and interests in water resources utilization and other industries according to law; Participate in the prevention and control of alien invasive species and the sustainable utilization of biological genetic resources, and promote the application of practical technologies such as efficient trapping and biological natural enemies; Carry out product certification, ecological identification, brand building, etc.

4、 Support policy

（12） Planning control.The municipal and county governments shall incorporate the spatial needs of ecological protection and restoration and the development of related industries into the land spatial planning. Encourage social capital to participate in the preparation of ecological protection and restoration plans, and reasonably arrange the scale, structure, layout and timing of various spatial land in the ecological protection and restoration area on the premise of complying with laws, regulations, policies and planning constraints. If scattered cultivated land, garden land, forest land and other agricultural land within the scope of the project need space replacement and layout optimization, it can be included in the ecological protection and restoration scheme and approved according to law; If it involves statutory examination and approval matters such as the adjustment of permanent basic farmland, the examination and approval procedures shall be handled according to law. We will implement the strictest cultivated land protection system, firmly hold the red line of cultivated land, resolutely curb the "non-agricultural" of cultivated land and prevent the "non grain" of cultivated land. After the completion of the project, the land use shall be uniformly adjusted through the annual land change survey, and the real estate registration authority shall handle the relevant real estate registration according to the land use adjustment documents.

（13） Property right incentive.For the main bodies of ecological protection and restoration that carry out ecological restoration in a centralized and continuous manner and achieve a certain scale and expected objectives, they are allowed to obtain a certain share of the right to use natural resource assets according to law and regulations and engage in the development of tourism, health care, sports, facility agriculture and other industries; Among them, the projects focusing on forest and grassland restoration can use no more than 3% of the restoration area to engage in the development of ecological industry. If the state-owned construction land invested and repaired by social capital is intended to be used for operational construction projects, under the same conditions, the subject of ecological protection and restoration has priority in open competition; Where the right to use sea areas is involved, it may be handled in accordance with laws and regulations and in accordance with the above policies. For the newly added collective agricultural land after restoration, rural collective economic organizations are encouraged to transfer their management rights to the main body of ecological protection and restoration according to law. Collective construction land after repair地，符合規劃的，可根據國家統一部署穩妥有序推進農村集體經營性建設用地入市，生態保護修復主體可在同等條件下優先取得使用權。社會資本投資修復并依法獲得的土地、海域使用權等相關權益，在完成修復任務后，可依法依規流轉并獲得相應收益。

釋放產權關聯權益。社會資本將修復區域內的建設用地修復為農用地并驗收合格后，騰退的建設用地指標可以優先用于相關產業發展，節余指標可以按照城鄉建設用地增減掛鉤政策，在省域范圍內流轉使用。生態保護修復主體將自身依法取得的存量建設用地修復為農用地的，經驗收合格后，騰退的建設用地指標可用于其在省域范圍內占用同地類的農用地。

建立健全自然、農田、城鎮等生態系統保護修復激勵機制。研究制定生態系統碳匯項目參與全國碳排放權交易相關規則，逐步提高生態系統碳匯交易量。健全以社會捐贈方式參與生態保護修復的制度，鼓勵參與自然保護地等生態保護修復。創新林木采伐管理機制，開展人工商品林自主采伐試點，引導社會資本科學編制簡易森林經營方案，對具有一定經營規模的企業可單獨編制森林采伐限額，經審批可依法依規自主采伐；采伐經濟林、能源林、竹林以及非林地上的林木，可依據森林經營方案或規劃自行設計，依法依規自主決定采伐林齡和方式。

（十四）資源利用。按照生態保護修復方案及其工程設計，對于合理削坡減荷、消除地質災害隱患等新產生的土石料及原地遺留的土石料，河道疏浚產生的淤泥、泥沙，以及優質表土和鄉土植物，允許生態保護修復主體無償用于本修復工程，納入成本管理；如有剩余的，由縣級以上地方政府依托公共資源交易平臺體系處置，并保障生態保護修復主體合理收益。

（十五）財稅支持。發揮政府投入的帶動作用，探索通過PPP等模式引入社會資本開展生態保護修復，符合條件的可按規定享受環境保護、節能節水等相應稅收優惠政策。社會資本投資建設的公益林，符合條件并按規定納入公益林區劃的，可以同等享受相關政府補助政策。

（十六）金融扶持。在不新增地方政府隱性債務的前提下，支持金融機構參與生態保護修復項目，拓寬投融資渠道，優化信貸評審方式，積極開發適合的金融產品，按市場化原則為項目提供中長期資金支持。推動綠色基金、綠色債券、綠色信貸、綠色保險等加大對生態保護修復的投資力度。積極支持符合條件的企業發行綠色債券，用于生態保護修復工程。支持技術領先、綜合服務能力強的骨干企業上市融資。允許具備條件的企業發行綠色資產證券化產品，盤活資源資產。健全森林保險制度，鼓勵保險機構和有條件的地方探索開展保價值、保產量、保收入的特色經濟林和林木種苗保險試點，推進草原保險試點，加大保險產品創新力度，完善災害風險防控和分散機制。

五、保障機制

（十七）加強組織領導。各地區要將鼓勵和支持社會資本參與生態保護修復納入經濟社會發展規劃，建立健全統籌協調機制。要暢通渠道、聽取訴求，保障社會資本合法權益，增強長期投資信心。各級自然資源主管部門要強化工作統籌，制定生態保護修復規劃，明確修復任務，設立項目并確定生態保護修復目標及自然資源資產配置要求。各有關部門和單位要按職責分工，制定完善相關配套政策措施，細化操作程序，形成協同推進的工作合力。

（十八）強化示范引領。發揮骨干企業的帶頭引領作用，搭建混合所有制企業等合作平臺，促進各類資本和產業協同。鼓勵開展生態保護修復理論和方法等基礎研究、關鍵技術研發和集成示范推廣，探索導向明確、路徑清晰、投入持久、回報穩定的資源導向型可持續發展模式。加強科研人才梯隊建設，構建產學研用相結合的良性發展機制。

（十九）優化監管服務。建立投資促進機制，搭建信息服務平臺，匯總發布各類生態保護修復項目及投資需求、政策法規標準等信息。加強督察和執法，全程全面依法監管，嚴格規范行為，建立信用監管機制，實現跨地區跨部門獎懲聯動。生態保護修復過程中涉及地理、生態、生物等方面敏感信息采集、處理和使用的，嚴格按照相關規定執行。

（二十）做好宣傳引導。加強法律法規政策宣傳。開展生態保護修復品牌建設，充分利用各類媒體平臺，提升傳播力和影響力，增強社會資本參與的獲得感和榮譽感，促進全社會關心支持生態保護修復事業，共同推進美麗中國建設。

國務院辦公廳

2021年10月15日