On September 10th, at the series of themed press conferences on "High quality Completion of the 14th Five Year Plan" held by the State Council Information Office, Guan Zhiou, Minister of Natural Resources and General Inspector of National Natural Resources, stated that since the 14th Five Year Plan, China's natural resources have become more solid, and the national land spatial pattern has been continuously optimized, building a comprehensive protection and governance pattern from mountaintops to oceans. The goals and tasks of the 14th Five Year Plan have been fully achieved. Xu Dachun, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Director of the China Geological Survey, introduced that since the 14th Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Natural Resources, together with relevant departments, has organized and implemented a new round of breakthrough strategic actions for mineral exploration, with a cumulative investment of nearly 450 billion yuan, achieving a number of major breakthroughs in mineral exploration, gradually improving energy and resource security capabilities, and continuously optimizing the structure. Comprehensively improving the efficiency of resource utilization, Guan Zhiou stated that the Ministry of Natural Resources is fully committed to serving as the "steward" of natural resources and the "guardian" of beautiful China, firmly guarding the red line of farmland protection, deepening the "multi regulation integration" reform, implementing the protection and restoration of important ecosystems, and coordinating the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, grasses, and sands. Comprehensively improving resource utilization efficiency has promoted the green transformation of economic and social development. According to data from the Ministry of Natural Resources, as of the end of 2024, the total cultivated land area in China reached 1.94 billion mu, an increase of 28 million mu from 2020. Among them, the cultivated land area in provinces (regions) such as Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Jilin, and Xinjiang exceeds 100 million mu, and the "three in one" protection pattern of the quantity, quality, and ecology of cultivated land is gradually forming. Guan Zhiou stated that the Ministry of Natural Resources has comprehensively investigated the quantity, distribution, and development and utilization status of 163 mineral resources with confirmed reserves. 534 new large and medium-sized oil and gas fields and mineral deposits have been discovered, and significant breakthroughs have been made in the exploration and development of strategic mineral resources such as oil and gas, copper, and lithium. The retention rate of natural shorelines on the mainland remains above 35%, and the development trend of strategic emerging industries such as marine energy, marine drugs and biological products, seawater desalination and comprehensive utilization is good. The total value of marine production has reached 10.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 2.7 trillion yuan from 2020. In addition, the current national forest coverage rate has reached 25.09%, an increase of about 2 percentage points from 2020, making China the country with the highest and fastest green growth in the world. The forest storage volume has reached 20.988 billion cubic meters, achieving the 2030 national independent contribution target for addressing climate change ahead of schedule. Guan Zhiou introduced that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, China established a national land spatial planning system, formulated and issued the national land spatial planning outline, and approved and implemented the overall national land spatial planning at the provincial, municipal, and county levels. Special plans and detailed plans were orderly connected, forming a "blueprint" for the development and protection of national land space. The implementation of the main functional zone strategy, based on the resource and environmental carrying capacity and comparative advantages of various regions, has optimized the urban, agricultural, and ecological spatial patterns, promoting the formation of the "two horizontal and three vertical" urbanization strategic pattern, the "seven zones and twenty-three belts" agricultural development pattern, and the "three zones and four belts" ecological security pattern. The marine economy has become an important force for stable economic growth. Zhuang Shaoqin, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated that since the 14th Five Year Plan, the natural resources department has explored solutions to the problem of inadequate ownership, mainly in clarifying property rights, unified registration, and value realization. At present, 5 national parks have completed the registration of property rights, and 1096 key areas across the country have completed the registration of property rights, which has enabled green mountains and rivers to have "household registration books" and "identity cards". After clarifying property rights, it has stimulated the main responsibility of resource protection and development. Innovative asset allocation methods have transformed the original single resource transfer into a composite space and multi factor asset "packaged" combination transfer, with overall operation, coordinated upstream and downstream industries and benefit distribution, generating multiple "multiplier effects" and stimulating the motivation of all parties to expand the cake. In terms of marine economy, Sun Shuxian, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Director of the State Oceanic Administration, introduced that China's marine economy has become an important force for stable growth of the national economy. At the same time, China has become one of the countries with the most complete categories of marine industries, possessing all 15 major marine industries, all of which are large-scale and have good momentum. Marine oil and gas have become the main force for increasing reserves and production, with the increase in marine crude oil accounting for over 70% of the domestic crude oil increase by 2024. By 2024, the market share of sea and air equipment will account for over 50% of the global market. The scale of seawater desalination projects has now exceeded 2.9 million tons per day. The research and development capability of marine drugs has also entered the forefront of the world, with independently developed marine drugs accounting for 28% of the world's marketed categories. Marine energy technology equipment has entered the world's top tier. The sea freight volume and container throughput account for one-third of the global total, and the added value of marine tourism industry will reach 1.6 trillion yuan in 2024. Several relevant officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources have stated that in the next step, the Ministry will further fulfill its responsibilities as the "steward" and better support high-quality development. Continuously promoting high-quality development of the marine economy and forging a path of strength towards the sea with Chinese characteristics. Continuously promote a new round of breakthrough strategic actions in mineral exploration, increase exploration and development efforts, solidly implement various measures, and secure the livelihood of energy resources. (New Society)