Today, high-quality organic green tea from Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province, has been sold to more than 60 countries and regions, and organic tea exports have accounted for more than 50 percent of the EU market for 25 consecutive years.

With forest coverage rate reaching 82.6 percent, Wuyuan has a beautiful ecological environment and is regarded as a "natural oxygen bar." Such a good ecological environment has allowed the county's tea to break the barriers to enter Europe's green market and go global.

"We need to prioritize eco-environmental progress, pursue green development, and advance ecological environmental protection and economic and social development in a coordinated manner," Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said at a symposium he chaired on advancing the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt on Thursday in Nanchang City, east China's Jiangxi Province.

Prioritizing eco-environmental progress

"Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." This core concept in China's pursuit of ecological progress has not just led to dramatic improvement in the country's environment, but also generated new growth impetus for the world's second largest economy.

According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, China's forest area and forest stock continue to grow, with the national forest coverage rate increasing to 24.02 percent and the preserved area of ​​artificial forests reaching 1.314 billion mu, ranking first in the world.

Over the past decade, the country's energy intensity has been reduced by 26.4 percent. China has become one of the countries with the fastest reduction in energy intensity in the world.

Meanwhile, China contributed about 48 percent of the world's total new renewable energy capacity in 2022, said a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

China is committed to finding a balance between economic development and environmental protection to achieve sustainable development, Francesco La Camera, director-general of the IRENA, told China Media Group.

During Thursday's meeting, Xi stressed efforts to continue to strengthen comprehensive management of the ecological environment, enhance pollution control in key areas, coordinate water resources, environment, and ecology, solidly promote the prevention and control of air and soil pollution to reduce the total amount of pollutant emissions from the beginning.

Pursuing green development

Transforming ecological advantages and natural beauty into impetus for green development, China has been vigorously developing green rural tourism to add more "green" into its ecological progress.

Despite its remote location, the forest-covered Zhongyuan Township on a hillside in Jiangxi has drawn flocks of visitors from across the country in summer.

Sitting in the hinterland of Jiuling Mountain with a forest coverage rate of nearly 90 percent, Zhongyuan is cooler in summer, making it an ideal location to develop the "summer economy." 

Data shows that there are 721 registered homestays in Zhongyuan's summer resorts, welcoming some 30,000 tourists every summer. Over 640 families in Zhongyuan started agricultural entertainment businesses, offering jobs to more than 2,000 people.

Besides tourism, China is advancing its industrial green transformation. For example, clean electricity power is generated by erecting solar photovoltaic panels on the water surface, where the water temperature is lower than that of open water, which is conducive to fishery farming as the oxygen content in the water is higher.

According to China Electricity Council, from 2006 to 2022, China's power industry has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 24.73 billion tonnes.

Stressing the importance of industrial green transformation and upgrading, Xi urged efforts to accelerate the expansion of green and low-carbon industries, develop green technologies and products, and enhance the potential and stamina of development.