Jinyun county in Lishui, Zhejiang province, was recently honored as a "Model Chinese City with Green Mountains and Clear Waters".

The county is well-known for its good natural environment. It has been awarded with many honorary titles previously, such as a national ecological county, national sanitary county, outstanding city for green development and model city for ecological construction.

The achievements can be attributed to the county's vigorous efforts in promoting environmentally-friendly construction.

The county has been making environmentally-friendly development a top priority since 2000. Over the past five years, it has spent 870 million yuan ($123.62 million) dealing with water pollution. There are now domestic sewage treatment facilities in all its villages. A total of 606 rural public toilets were renovated last year.

The county has been improving the environment and strengthening afforestation efforts. Its forest coverage now reaches 78.9 percent.

In terms of land protection, the county has been implementing strict farmland protection and strengthening treatment of water and soil erosion.

In addition, the county made strides in air pollution control. It bans fireworks and fights against open-air burning. It punished 763 environmentally-unqualified companies and phased out 13 companies with backward production capacities last year. Its good-quality air now reaches 98.9 percent, ranking among the top in the province.