Jointly building an international first-class beautiful bay area is an important part of building a leading area for beautiful China. On the 1st, the reporter learned from the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong Province that Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao will innovate and promote the connection of rules and mechanisms in key areas, and explore the introduction of a "Bay Area Standard" list for ecological environment protection. 2024 marks the 5th anniversary of the promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. Xu Xiaoxia, Director of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong Province, stated in an interview with reporters that the pattern of joint protection and governance of the ecological environment in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has gradually formed, and the regional ecological environment quality and green development level are at the forefront of the country. However, compared to the international first-class bay area, there is still a certain gap in the ecological environment quality of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and it is necessary to accelerate the construction and improvement of the ecological environment management system in the three regions. Xu Xiaoxia said that in line with the goal requirements of benchmarking the leading area of Beautiful China, Guangdong will work together with Hong Kong and Macao to plan a cooperation path for jointly building the Beautiful Bay Area, promote the connection of rules and mechanisms in key areas, and innovate to promote the demonstration of major strategic platforms. In planning the cooperation path for jointly building the Beautiful Bay Area, Xu Xiaoxia said that Guangdong will formulate and introduce an action plan and policy measures to build a beautiful China pilot zone. Demonstration construction will be carried out in multiple dimensions such as beautiful blue sky, beautiful rivers and lakes, beautiful bays, beautiful cities, beautiful villages, and beautiful parks, forming a group of demonstration and leading models with the characteristics of the Bay Area, driving the construction of a beautiful China pilot zone in all fields, all directions, and all regions. In terms of promoting the connection of rules and mechanisms in key areas through innovation, Guangdong will build on the existing ecological and environmental protection cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, and promote the establishment of a closer and more practical cooperation mechanism for ecological and environmental protection between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. It will focus on key areas such as joint prevention and control of air pollution, marine environmental protection, climate change response, and collaborative disposal of solid waste, deepen the connection of rules and mechanisms, promote the joint release of the Greater Bay Area Air Quality and Health Index, and explore the proposal of the "Bay Area Standard" list for ecological and environmental protection. In terms of promoting innovation and leading the demonstration of major strategic platforms, Xu Xiaoxia said that Guangdong will take major cooperation platforms such as Hengqin, Qianhai, and Nansha as carriers to explore and pilot ecological environment management systems, standard systems, and cooperation models that are in line with international standards; Carry out research and application of carbon label mutual recognition mechanism, explore the establishment of regional internal product carbon footprint and low-carbon product certification system; Promote the deep participation of the three major platforms in global environmental governance and exchange cooperation, strengthen international cooperation in areas such as green finance, green trade, and green energy, and achieve high-level mutual benefit and win-win results. (Lai Xin She)