Lishui in East China's Zhejiang province released the GEP (gross ecosystem product) accounting report on Dajun township in Lishui's Jingning county on Dec 27, 2019. It was the first time in the country that a GEP accounting report for a township had been released, according to officials.

The report showed that in 2018, the GEP of Dajun township reached 1.79 billion yuan ($255.6 million), an increase of 94 million yuan over 2017.

The increase in GEP not only shows the result of the protection of green mountains and clear water, but also proves that green mountains and clear water can be mountains of gold and silver.

Jingning county granted Dajun 1.88 million yuan in ecological value-added award payments, which was the first successful case of a GEP accounting increment gaining a government ecological reward payment.

This new measure means that the mechanism for government procurement of ecological products proposed in the pilot program of the national eco-product value realization mechanism has been further explored and practiced.

According to Zhou Lijun, an official from Lishui's development and reform commission, the 1.88 million yuan will be invested in a newly founded ecological development company in Dajun, whose goal is to realize the continuous increment of GEP and improve the conversion efficiency of GEP to GDP.