Lv Zhongmei, member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, vice chairman of the Environmental and Resource Protection Committee of the National People's Congress, vice chairman of the Central Committee of the Peasants and Workers Party, and vice chairman of the China Law Society. Deputies to the 10th, 11th and 12th National People's Congress, members of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and deputy directors of the Social and Legal Affairs Commission, members of the Standing Committee of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and deputy directors of the Social and Legal Affairs Commission. There are many experiences and stories of Lv Zhongmei's performance as a representative and committee member, and even more so. Since she served as a deputy to the 10th National People's Congress in 2003, she has served as a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress, a deputy to the 12th National People's Congress, a member of the CPPCC National Committee, a deputy to the 12th and 13th CPPCC National Committee on Social and Legal Affairs, and now a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, and a deputy director of the Environmental and Resource Protection Committee of the National People's Congress. Counting by fingers, the span of duty has exceeded 20 years. In over 20 years of fulfilling her duties, Lv Zhongmei has witnessed many important historical moments and personally participated in numerous major practices of national governance. She deeply felt the functions and roles of representatives and committee members in China's political system, and truly experienced the growth and progress of China's fundamental and basic political system. On February 28, in the office building of the National People's Congress located at Qianmen West Street in Beijing, Lv Zhongmei told reporters of the Rule of Law Daily about her performance of duties. The time spent in the green mountains and clear waters records Lv Zhongmei's persistence in fulfilling her duties. As a professional researcher in environmental law, providing advice on environmental rule of law has been a direction that Lv Zhongmei has never stopped or changed in her over 20 years of service. Looking back at Lv Zhongmei's proposals, suggestions, and proposals over the years, her performance has always resonated with the construction of ecological civilization and rule of law. A clear picture of the development of China's environmental rule of law can be seen - on March 1st this year, the fourth anniversary of the implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law. This is a very special law - China's first legislation in the form of national law for specific river basins, which is groundbreaking in China's legislative system. As early as 2003, Lv Zhongmei led the proposal to formulate the Yangtze River Law and put forward relevant proposals and suggestions on the legislation of Yangtze River protection for many years. In 2003, another proposal led by Lv Zhongmei was to amend the Environmental Protection Law. At that time, the Environmental Protection Law, which had been in effect for nearly 15 years, had exposed many shortcomings during its implementation, and there was a fierce debate on whether to abolish the Environmental Protection Law. Afterwards, Lv Zhongmei continued to lead the proposal of amending the Environmental Protection Law in 2004 and put forward suggestions from different perspectives on the Environmental Protection Law for several consecutive years. What Lv Zhongmei did not expect was that the debate over whether an environmental protection law was needed lasted for more than ten years, until the environmental protection law was overhauled in 2014. In September 2024, the draft National Park Law was first submitted to the 11th meeting of the 14th NPC Standing Committee for deliberation. In 2019, Lv Zhongmei began discussing the path of legislation for the natural protected area system. That year, at the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, she proposed a suggestion to initiate research on legislation for natural protected areas. Looking back at the legal construction of China's ecological environment in recent years, the legislative ideas of "coordinating the establishment, reform, abolition, interpretation, and compilation" have become increasingly clear, filling in gaps, strengthening the system, and improving quality. The legislative model has shifted from "mature one, formulate one" to overall planning, systematic promotion, and collaborative progress. The legislative approach has shifted from focusing on creation to coordinating creation and cleaning, compiling and interpreting, and abolishing laws. It can be said that the construction of a sustainable environmental legal regulatory system is on the way. On this road, Lv Zhongmei, as a legal person, has never stopped pursuing her goals. Being able to translate her research findings into formal laws for implementation is her highest goal and greatest dream. Starting from January 1, 2021, with the implementation of the Civil Code, China has officially entered the era of legal codes. The Civil Code has brought ideals into reality, which has convinced Lv Zhongmei, who has been engaged in legal research for many years, that China will definitely have its own environmental code. But she also knows that this will be a long process. In 2017, the Environmental and Resource Law Research Association of the China Law Society, chaired by Lv Zhongmei, officially launched the major project of "Compilation and Research of Environmental Code" just after the election. In March 2018, Lv Zhongmei submitted a proposal to the First Session of the 13th CPPCC National People's Congress to incorporate the compilation of environmental codes into the legislative plan of the 13th NPC, and suggested that the compilation of environmental codes should be started as soon as possible. Later, she led the way in proposing the Proposal on Including the Compilation of Environmental Code in the Legislative Plan of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, and submitted the Expert Proposal (Draft) of the Ecological Environmental Code to the Legal Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. In April 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress announced the annual legislative work plan, and the compilation of environmental code was included in the three categories of the annual legislative plan. In 2024, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress launched the compilation of the ecological environment code. This means that compiling an ecological environment code is no longer a theoretical idea for scholars. The Ecological Environment Code is about to be released, and Lv Zhongmei is even busier. In 2024, she basically has no free time, running around almost all year round in various meetings and research. Roughly speaking, there were more than ten research meetings of various sizes held. In addition to conducting research in various places, she also visited departments such as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and held joint research meetings with multiple departments. In addition, several expert meetings were held, especially in July last year when Lv Zhongmei led a multidisciplinary expert meeting on the compilation of legal codes, including jurisprudence, constitutional law, civil law, criminal law, etc., which was not common in the past. Whenever it comes to the compilation of legal codes, Lv Zhongmei has endless words to say. The compilation of legal codes has always been a combination of academia and practice. Without theoretical support, there can be no legal code In Lv Zhongmei's view, at this stage of the compilation of the legal code, it is necessary to study some deep-seated issues, which will be more focused and precise. She particularly emphasized that the compilation of the legal code must have legislative determination, and system integration is a key step, which is also difficult in the final step. Another crucial issue is how to systematize the legal code. The essence of a legal code is to systematize it. In addition, how to reflect new ideas, new systems, and new goals and directions for future development in the legal code is also a problem that Lv Zhongmei believes needs special research at present. At present, the compilation of the Ecological Environment Code is being promoted in accordance with the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee. Lv Zhongmei believes that in the next step of research, more attention should be paid to proposing a specific plan for the compilation of a Chinese style environmental code that meets the requirements of China's legal development stage, is scientific, forward-looking, and internationally exemplary. After forty years of searching, it has finally become a great road. Lv Zhongmei firmly believes that by compiling the Ecological Environment Code, carefully sorting out and summarizing the practice of ecological environment rule of law, not only can mature experience be solidified into law, but also guide future practice, achieve reform based on law, and have significant practical significance for promoting comprehensive rule of law. At the same time, compiling the Ecological Environment Code will also make original contributions to the compilation of new codes, which is a milestone in building a legal system for human ecological civilization in the 21st century and has significant global significance. Galloping in the tide of the times, "For the dignity of a tree and the fragrance of a flower, they each show their abilities, speak for the sky, and plead for the river!" This was the award speech of the jury when Lv Zhongmei was awarded the "Person of the Year in the Rule of Law" in 2014. Along the way, accompanied by the performance of duties by representatives and committee members, Lv Zhongmei has also gained experience in various positions such as legal teaching and research, court trials and management, enterprise secondment training, university administrative management, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Each identity is a window for her to observe the progress of China's rule of law. As a representative and committee member, Lv Zhongmei's proposals, suggestions, and proposals involve various fields of economic and social development, which are related to the phenomena and problems she has heard and seen in her work. As the interview was coming to an end, the reporter saw a newly published book on her desk this year titled "Twenty Years of Duty Performance: An Environmental Law Paper Written in the Green Mountains and Waters". According to Lv Zhongmei, this book systematically reviews media interviews with her during the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference over the past decade. Hundreds of thousands of words record numerous scenes and topics, with distinct historical imprints and macro backgrounds. It not only provides immediate comments and interpretations of relevant events, but also has expectations for the future. It is not only a practical translation of environmental law theory research results, but also an excellent opportunity to test theoretical research results in practice. To some extent, this is a very good "practical book" that records the historical process of environmental rule of law and ecological system construction. Lv Zhongmei, who has been a deputy to the National People's Congress and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for many years, has gained a lot of insights from her experience in learning and practice. In her opinion, the reason why she was able to be seen, heard, and recorded was only because she coincidentally integrated into the era of comprehensive rule of law. As a wave in the tide of the times, Lv Zhongmei will continue to sail towards the distance amidst the waves of sand. (New Society)