Blog

BEIJING, Oct. 14 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday presided over a symposium on the economic situation, and listened to opinions and suggestions from experts and entrepreneurs on the country’s economy and relevant work.

Since the beginning of the year, despite a complex external environment and challenges in economic operations, China has made continued efforts to sustain its economic recovery and advance high-quality development, Li said after hearing the speeches of experts and entrepreneurs.

Li highlighted the importance of maintaining confidence and facing problems squarely, remaining focused on managing China’s own affairs well, and striving to accomplish the country’s annual economic and social development targets.

He urged continued efforts to remove bottlenecks through reform, expand domestic demand, and strengthen domestic circulation. Greater efforts should be made to boost effective investment, stimulate market vitality, and address disorderly and irrational competition, he noted.

Li also stressed the need to accelerate the application of scientific and technological achievements, stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment, and enhance the system of comprehensive overseas services.

The premier expressed the hope that entrepreneurs will focus on innovation and make greater contributions to high-quality development. He also encouraged experts and scholars to offer valuable insights and advice to help improve China’s economic work and contribute to the country’s development in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period.

BRISBANE (October 15 2025) — AECOM, the trusted global infrastructure leader, today announced it has recommitted to its partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and will provide in-kind advisory and technical consulting services aimed at finding tangible Reef restoration and resilience solutions over four more years. This builds on AECOM’s long-standing commitment to the Reef, which began in 2018 when work for the Foundation commenced. It led to a formalised partnership in 2022 and AUD$1 million of in-kind support provided over the three successful years since. 

AECOM has supported several projects for the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, including its Resilient Reefs Initiative, Roads to Reef Initiative, Reef Islands Initiative and Blue Carbon Program. 

“It’s an honour to recommit AECOM to another successful four years of using our specialist water and environmental advisory skills for good; delivering practical solutions to help sustain our Reef ecosystems for generations, a commitment to our purpose of delivering a better world,” said Mark McManamny, chief executive of AECOM’s Australia and New Zealand region. “The goal of AECOM’s Sustainable Legacies strategy is straightforward; leave a lasting positive impact on our communities and our planet, and this continued partnership is the embodiment of that ambition.” 

“The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has worked with AECOM to build the resilience of coral reefs across four iconic world heritage sites, improve water quality outcomes on the Great Barrier Reef, and explore nature-based solutions such as blue carbon,” said Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. “We are delighted to continue this powerful partnership, which in this next phase will focus on prioritising large-scale coastal ecosystem protection and restoration. AECOM’s specialist skills and industry expertise will be vital in helping us achieve our future aims and address the most complex and challenging problems facing the Great Barrier Reef’s survival.” 

Roads to Reef Initiative 

Roads to Reef has been the primary initiative over the past three years of partnership. AECOM road and water engineers, along with resilience advisors, have been working with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and Local Government Association Queensland. The aim has been to develop decision-support tools to identify areas at high risk of unsealed road erosion within the Reef catchment, thereby helping to minimise water quality impacts. AECOM specialists have undertaken hydrologic and GIS modelling across thousands of kilometres of unsealed roads and drainage paths throughout the entire Reef catchment.  

Key outcomes: 

• Developed the first comprehensive model estimating how much fine sediment runoff from the entire unsealed road network is draining into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.  

• Delivered the first model demonstrating that unsealed roads can contribute a significant portion of fine sediment runoff per unit area. 

• Created a framework to test future interventions, including nature-based solutions, aimed at reducing sediment runoff from unsealed roads, supporting local governments and other road management authorities in securing funding for these interventions. 

Reef Islands Initiative  

Reef Islands Initiative is the primary initiative within the recommitted partnership. AECOM environmental advisors are supporting the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to develop a prioritisation process that would action multi-habitat restoration activity on and around the Great Barrier Reef islands. Advice is being provided on terrestrial and marine ecosystem restoration opportunities, supporting increased biodiversity and resilience, and First Nations and community partnerships. 

Resilient Reefs Initiative 

AECOM’s partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation builds upon its successful foundational collaboration on the Resilient Reefs Initiative that commenced in 2018. AECOM helped build reef resilience across UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral reefs, working with stakeholders on actionable resilience strategies. AECOM environmental advisors provided support for the release of the Ningaloo Coast, Rock Islands of Palau, Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System and the Lagoons of New Caledonia reef resilience strategies. 

Key outcomes: 

• Delivered the first fully integrated and transferable model, with priority actions and funding allocations, for building resilience of both coral reefs and the communities that depend on them, from planning to implementation. 

Blue Carbon Program 

AECOM and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation are developing a white paper to discuss unlocking existing regulatory barriers that prevent blue carbon projects in the Great Barrier Reef catchments. Blue carbon projects refer to conservation, restoration and management efforts that enhance coastal and marine ecosystems like mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh to sequester and store carbon. The paper is intended to advocate for blue carbon-focused, nature-based solutions within regulatory frameworks as legitimate alternatives to traditional engineering solutions. It seeks to streamline the approvals process for these efforts and provide evidence of their value. 

About AECOM  

AECOM is the global infrastructure leader, committed to delivering a better world. As a trusted professional services firm powered by deep technical abilities, we solve our clients’ complex challenges in water, environment, energy, transportation and buildings. Our teams partner with public- and private-sector clients to create innovative, sustainable and resilient solutions throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm that had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2024. Learn more at aecom.com.  

About the Great Barrier Reef Foundation 

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation is creating a future for the world’s coral reefs by restoring reefs and coastal habitats and helping them adapt to the impacts of climate change. We’ve built a collaborative organisation to raise funds, invest in innovative ideas and design real-world, scalable conservation programs that are delivering breakthroughs in marine and terrestrial restoration. Walking in step with First Nations people and front-line communities, the Foundation is fast-tracking and deploying solutions around the world.