The International Conference on Eco-compensation Mechanism, which was organized by CCICED and supported by the Task Force on Eco-compensation Mechanism and Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy of SEPA, was held in Beijing on August 24-25. Deputy Director of Environment and Resources Conservation Committee of NPC Ye Rutang, Vice Minister of SEPA and Secretary General of the Council Zhu Guangyao, and Chinese Lead Expert Shen Guofang attended the conference and gave their speeches. Mr. Xu Qinghua and Yang Chaofei, Deputy Secretaries General of the Council also attended the conference.

200-odd participants, including Chinese and international experts of the Task Force, experts and representatives from Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Land Resources, Ministry of Water Resources, SEPA and other Ministries, Environmental Defense, Forest Trends, WWF, World Bank and other relevant international organizations, foreign embassies to China, local environmental protection agencies and scientific research institutes attended the conference.

The meeting carried out in-depth discussion on the following five central topics, i.e., 1) theoretical approaches and strategies on eco-compensation; 2) eco-compensation mechanism and policies on river basins; 3) eco-compensation mechanism and policies for the development of mineral resources; 4) eco-compensation mechanism and policies for the conservation of forest resources; 5) eco-compensation mechanism and policies on nature reserves.