On November 7, the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment organized a meeting in Beijing on the progress of mercury reduction and minimization demonstration projects in PVC production, as well as the exchange of mercury-free direction. Deputy Director Ding Ding and Chief Economist Chen Ming attended the meeting. Approximately 80 representatives from local environmental authorities in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Shandong, Shaanxi, as well as environmental research institutions such as the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences，Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences and University of Science and Technology Beijing, as well as PVC production enterprises, catalyst production and recycling enterprises, and other related institutions attended the meeting. Association Vice president Zhang Xin attended the meeting and delivered a speech. The meeting introduced the relevant situation of the fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Discussions focused on the requirements of the Convention and China's progress in fulfilling its obligations, as well as environmental management requirements for domestic calcium carbide PVC and upstream and downstream industries, current research and development status of mercury-free catalysts, application status of waste mercury catalyst recovery and disposal technology, and promotion of mercury-free direction in the industry.