Nanping city in East China's Fujian province makes significant achievements in protecting its environment while boosting the economy. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A forum highlighting ecological development and environmental protection was held in Jianyang district, Nanping in East China's Fujian province on Aug 2, showcasing Nanping's achievements in protecting its environment while boosting the economy.

In recent years, the city has attached more importance to the protection and restoration of water ecology, and efforts have been made to improve the prevention and control of water pollution in rural areas so as to make Nanping a more beautiful and livable city.

The city has also enhanced water resources protection by setting up strict management systems in an effort to build a water-saving society. More efforts have been made to gradually improve the water quality of the river courses and beautify the city's river banks.

In addition, support was given to new types of water businesses to explore more development opportunities.

Statistics show that so far this year, Nanping has invested more than 40 billion yuan ($5.73 billion) to foster 150 projects related to water economy, including 31 water conservancy scenic areas and a number of new tourism projects such as night water tours.

In addition, Nanping has integrated its rich historical and cultural resources with nature, and this has greatly promoted the city's distinctive characteristics and culture.