Eco-Environmental Red Lines
Eco-environmental red lines protect those regions that must be strictly protected because of their important ecological functions. These include regions with such ecological functions as water source conservation, biodiversity maintenance, water and soil conservation, windbreak and sand-fixation, and coastal ecological stability, along with environmentally sensitive and fragile regions which are prone to soil erosion, sandification, stony desertification and salinization.
These red lines are the lifelines of national ecological security. They also serve territorial space planning. Drawing and enforcing such red lines is an important means of implementing the systems of functional zoning and controlling use of ecological space. They are effective in helping increase the supply of eco-goods and ecosystem services, and build up China's ecological security. As an institutional innovation, they can also boost China's progress toward an eco-civilization and promote its green development.
The central authorities in February 2017 issued a document on drawing and enforcing the red lines for the protection of the ecosystems, so as to manage all major environmental spaces with consistent standards. In May of the same year, guidelines were released for local governments on how to define red lines. The report to the CPC's 19th National Congress in October 2017 set the task of completing the preparation of red lines.
By 2020, China had finished drawing these red lines. The protected regions account for more than 25 percent of national land territory, and these include key ecological functional zones, environmentally sensitive and fragile regions, and key areas of biological diversity.
生態保護紅線
生態保護紅線，即在生態空間范圍內具有特殊重要生態功能、必須強制性嚴格保護的區域，通常包括具有重要水源涵養、生物多樣性維護、水土保持、防風固沙、海岸生態穩定等功能的生態功能重要區域，以及水土流失、土地沙化、石漠化、鹽漬化等生態環境敏感脆弱區域。生態保護紅線是保障和維護國家生態安全的底線和生命線，也是構建國土空間布局體系的基礎。劃定并嚴守生態保護紅線，是貫徹落實主體功能區制度、實施生態空間用途管制的重要舉措，是提高生態產品供給能力和生態系統服務功能、構建國家生態安全格局的有效手段，是健全生態文明制度體系、推動綠色發展的有力保障，也是中國生態保護的制度創新。
2017年2月，中共中央辦公廳、國務院辦公廳印發《關于劃定并嚴守生態保護紅線的若干意見》，提出按照山水林田湖系統保護的要求，劃定并嚴守生態保護紅線，實現一條紅線管控重要生態空間。同年5月，環境保護部辦公廳、國家發展和改革委員會辦公廳印發《生態保護紅線劃定指南》，指導劃定全國和各省（區、市）生態保護紅線。中共十九大報告進一步明確要求，完成生態保護紅線劃定工作。
到2020年，全國生態保護紅線劃定工作基本完成，初步劃定的全國生態保護紅線面積比例不低于陸域國土面積的25%，覆蓋了重點生態功能區、生態環境敏感區和脆弱區，覆蓋了全國生物多樣性分布的關鍵區域。
