context: This the first time since the environmental ministry was created in 2008 that it has been headed by two leaders, with Huang serving as minister and Sun Jinlong 孙金龙 as Party secretary.
Huang Runqiu 黄润秋 was promoted to MEE (Ministry of Ecology and Environment) minister on 29 Apr 2020, becoming the third non-Party member acceding to a ministerial post. A renowned geologist and Jiusan Society Central Committee vice chairman, Huang has twice received the nation's top science accolade, the National Science and Technology Progress Award. He led an expert team conducting geological disaster emergency surveying during the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, and was appointed vice minister of the Environmental Protection Ministry in 2016.
Environmental violations are still rampant, pointed out Huang at the 2019 Two Sessions. Penalties should be tightened and increased, says Huang. Environmental protection should ultimately achieve the unification of pollution control and ecological conservation, stresses Huang.