April 22 marks World Earth Day. China Railway Group Limited (CREC) has unswervingly adhered to the high-quality development path prioritizing ecology, green development and low carbon. With steel and iron as the brush and ingenuity and wisdom as the ink, it draws magnificent blueprints for ecological and environmental protection, empowering environmental governance and ecological civilization construction, and making the sky bluer, mountains greener and water clearer.

On Yuanchi Extra-large Bridge of Shenyang-Baicheng High-speed Railway at the northern foot of Changbai Mountain, the 235.8-meter fully enclosed sound barrier built by the Industrial Company of China Railway Electrification Engineering Group is specially constructed to protect the Chinese endemic critically endangered species Scaly-sided Merganser. Different from ordinary sound barriers, the fully enclosed design is like a sound insulation tunnel. The internal metal sound-absorbing plates are densely covered with micropores and filled with sound-absorbing materials for effective noise reduction. Divided into three sections with a total length of 3009.3 meters, it is the first environmental protection project supporting the 350 km/h high-speed railway in the severe cold area of Northeast China. Composed of arc-shaped steel beams and other components, the metal unit plates combined with sound-absorbing materials and rubber pads ensure stable performance under temperature differences. Targeting extreme climates, the project pioneered TPO anti-icing measures for snow melting prevention to solve the threat of ice slush. Multiple environmental protection measures such as designated material collection, reduced earthwork and forest fire prevention were implemented during construction, practicing the concept of harmonious coexistence between ecological protection and project construction.

Shenzhen Xiaping Solid Waste Landfill undertaken by China Railway No.2 Group is the largest waste disposal facility in Shenzhen. China Railway No.2 Group is responsible for the construction and renovation of flood drainage ditches across the site, reinforcement of garbage retaining earth-rock dams and masonry dams of leachate regulation ponds, new construction and expansion of roads, slope treatment, comprehensive monitoring system, power and lighting system, perimeter fire protection and water supply system, landscape upgrading, as well as emergency rescue and relief within the site during construction. After systematic renovation, Xiaping Landfill has taken on a new look and transformed from a garbage landfill into an ecological environmental park featuring safety, civilization, leisure sightseeing, popular science education and pleasant natural scenery.

The 200 MW Qiubei Xiaotangzi Photovoltaic Power Project undertaken by the 7th Branch of China Railway No.10 Engineering Group is located in Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, covering a total area of 4,100.7 mu with a total installed capacity of 200 MW. It has an annual power generation of 332 million kWh, saving 68,000 tons of standard coal and reducing 182,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. It is of great significance for helping achieve the "dual carbon" goals, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the regional energy structure, and driving the sustainable development of local economy.

Hainan Bank Headquarters Building is located in the core area of Jiangdong New Area, Haikou City, Hainan Province. It is a key project of Haikou and one of the first batch of projects launched in the starting area of Jiangdong New Area. During construction, the clip-type recyclable hoisting device developed by the project team of Shenzhen Branch of China Railway Guangzhou Engineering Group has changed the traditional construction mode of building frameworks. The device can be 100% recycled without damage, completely avoiding construction waste and air pollution caused by temporary welding and cutting, demonstrating a new concept of recycled construction. In the construction of building facades, the project adopts the construction method of "prefabricated unit curtain wall + embedded insertion", reducing on-site construction waste by more than 60% and improving installation efficiency by 30%. To cope with the challenges of high-altitude operation, the self-developed suspended operation platform replaces traditional scaffolding with less than 10% steel consumption, greatly reducing steel consumption while ensuring construction safety.

In the Qijiang Pelteobagrus Fulvidraco National Aquatic Germplasm Resources Reserve in Daying County, Suining City, Sichuan Province, the Mianyang-Suining-Ziyang-Neijiang Railway Project of China Railway Beijing Engineering Group is writing a new chapter in construction under the concept of ecological priority. The reserve is an important habitat and breeding ground for fish species such as pelteobagrus fulvidraco, mandarin fish and Chinese soft-shelled turtle, with extremely high environmental protection requirements. During construction, the project department strictly avoided water-related construction in the core area. The cantilever casting method with hanging baskets is adopted for continuous beam construction, and the hanging baskets are fully enclosed to prevent sundries from falling into the Qijiang River and causing river pollution. With the practice of minimal intervention and maximum protection, the project department contributes to the coordinated development of engineering construction and ecological protection.

The centralized ground photovoltaic power station project of Jiangsu Guanneng New Energy Co., Ltd. undertaken by the Electric Power and Communication Branch of China Railway No.9 Group is located in Xiangshui County, Yancheng City. Constructed with the scheme of block power generation and centralized grid connection, it will generate 10.83345 million kWh of electricity annually after operation, meeting the annual electricity demand of 13,000 households. It can replace 3,300 tons of standard coal and reduce about 8,800 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, providing important support for Yancheng, Jiangsu to amplify the efficiency of coastal "photovoltaics + agriculture" and promote green transformation and development.

The Yishui Happy River and Lake Construction Project in Yihuang County is one of the seven national pilot projects and the only one in Jiangxi Province. China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group coordinated the layout of landscape nodes in two townships and two towns from four dimensions: livable waterside, leisure waterside, green waterside and happy waterside, designing and building 4 ecological corridors and 14 water landscape nodes with high standards. Through comprehensive measures such as river bank slope renovation, water system connection and dredging, the urban and rural functions and quality on both banks of the Yishui River have been improved, forming a hierarchical spatial system of happy rivers and lakes. In January 2025, the project was selected as an excellent case of Happy Rivers and Lakes by the Ministry of Water Resources for 2024.

Xinxin Company of China Railway Resources Group actively responds to Mongolia's initiative titled Planting One Billion Trees and continuously promotes greening and reclamation in and around mining areas. By the end of 2025, more than 12,000 trees have been planted around the mining area, with 23.9 hectares of technical reclamation and 11 hectares of ecological reclamation completed, and the slope of tailings dam fully covered by grass. Meanwhile, biodiversity protection projects have been carried out: more than 300 bird repellents have been installed on high-voltage transmission lines, over 200 marmots have been released jointly with local institutions for long-term monitoring, 10 spring water spots around the mining area have been under special protection, and an online groundwater monitoring system built with an investment of 3.1 million yuan guards the water source safety of the grassland in real time.