China has made significant progress in promoting green transformation of its mining sector, with over 1,000 national-level and 4,500 provincial-level green mines established nationwide, the Ministry of Natural Resources said.

The ministry has advanced ecological restoration of abandoned mining areas while strengthening full-chain management of restoration at active mines to curb new environmental damage.

During the 14th "Five-Year Plan" period (2021-2025), the ministry, together with the finance ministry, implemented 68 demonstration projects for ecological restoration of abandoned mines, driving nationwide restoration of 3.35 million mu (about 223,333 hectares) of abandoned mine land, exceeding the target by 19.6%.

The ministry has also improved technical standards for mine ecological restoration and guided mining companies to follow the principle of "restoring while mining", while promoting best practices across different mineral types, extraction methods and regions.

Green mine construction has been comprehensively advanced. The newly revised Mineral Resources Law explicitly requires green mine development at the legal level for the first time, with related provisions also included in the ecological environment code and implementing regulations.

The ministry, jointly with the ecology and environment ministry, issued a notice on strengthening green mine construction, and the national standard for green mine evaluation has been released and implemented, establishing a working system featuring government guidance, departmental coordination, enterprise-led construction and social supervision.

Going forward, the ministry will fully implement the revised Mineral Resources Law and its regulations, continue strengthening mine ecological restoration and comprehensively advance green mine construction to support natural resource conservation and sustainable use.