The Task Force on Strategies and Policies for Environment and Development in Western China held the second session of working meeting in Beijing on October 12, 2011. The Chinese Co-chair and research fellow Liu Jiyuan and the International Co-chair and Ms. Robyn Kruk, former Deputy Director of the Australian Prime Minister's Office co-chaired the meeting. Over 30 participants including staff from CCICED Secretariat, Chinese and international team members of the Task Force and relevant experts attended the meeting.

The meeting listened to the report on research and preliminary findings of the task force since its establishment. The Task Force on Research on the Development Mechanism and Policy Innovation of China's Green Economy gave presentations on their research findings at the invitation of the meeting. The participating experts had thorough exchanges and discussions on matters such as the ongoing policies for western region, the progress in learning from international experience, regions considered as typical cases and development of green economy. They also nailed down the mid-term report of the task force and the outline of its final report. The third work meeting is scheduled in Beijing from December 5 to 10.

An investigation team, led by the task force Co-chairs Liu Jiyuan and Robyn Kruk and with 14 members including the international and Chinese chief experts, went to Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province for field investigations from October 13 to 19.

The team investigated the status quo of the ecological environment in the vicinity of Qinghai Lake, and current situation and scales of companies such as Jinhe Tibetan Medicine Plant as well as their roles in the regional social and economic development. They also had field trips in Jinjiang District and Dujiangyan District of Chengdu Municipality, and investigated current operation status of the circular economy mode in Dalin Town of Shuangliu County. Moreover, they figured out how the rural areas there had addressed environmental problems in their development course and the technical projects involved. Also, the team obtained an understanding of the environmental protection ideas, measures for energy conservation and reduction of raw materials, and the difficulties in developing new type of environmental industries of the companies including Mianyang-based Changhong Group, and had talks and exchanges with the company leaders.

Thanks to the investigations, the task force was able to know better about the environment and development issues in the western part of China, thus laying a good foundation for putting forward general policy recommendations suitable to the environment and development strategies in the western China.