Guiyang has approved the Regulation of the Construction of an Ecologically Civilized City on February 4, which will be effective beginning May 1, 2013, said the Standing Committee of the Guiyang People's Congress.

The regulation clarifies the principles, mechanisms and restrictions of ecological compensation. According to the regulation, an ecological compensation mechanism will be set up based on the principle of ecological values, intergenerational equity and reasonable compensation. The level of ecological compensation will be raised.

The regulation requires that the income of urban and rural residents after receiving ecological compensation must be higher than the average per capita income of urban and rural residents in the same year of the compensation. Low-level compensation must be avoided to maintain the living standards of the residents in the compensated area.