Editor's note: Does economic development contradict with environment? It used to be, but now things have changed. There is a green choice to make. That's what China has been doing. From solar, wind and hydropower, to the booming electric vehicle industry, a made-in-China miracle is taking place. In China Talk, Erik Solheim, former undersecretary general of the United Nations and now vice president of the Green Belt and Road Development Coalition, will share with you how he understands China's green impact.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to China talk. I am Erik Solheim, former undersecretary general of the United Nations and now vice president of the Green Belt and Road Development Coalition. Recently, I visited Anji in Zhejiang Province. That's where President Xi Jinping once made his famous speech, where he said that lucid waters and lush mountains are as invaluable as silver and gold. And what the change!

In 2005, no one really took so much notice of the speech, but it was a watershed moment in Chinese history. At the time, growth in China was very gray, polluted. Now is green. At the time, growth in China was about bringing everyone out of poverty. Now it's about high-quality growth. And Zhejiang is a symbol of this change. In Anji, we were sitting in an old factory building, and we could see some photos of the building. They are black from pollution. The workers were smoking when they were at the job because of all the smoke they got into their lungs.

Now, wonderful libraries, spicy hot pot restaurants, and youth centers where young people can learn how to start a business. One million tourists are coming to Anji every year, and created an enormous business opportunity, creating jobs while taking good care of the fantastic green hills of Anji at the same time. Zhejiang Province waged war against pollution, and it won. Nearly all waterways and rivers in Zhejiang are now absolutely clean. But Zhejiang can also serve as a symbol for the wider development in China. China, one country alone, is now 60 to 80 percent of all solar or wind or hydropower. The electric car market in the world, and 70 percent of all high-speed rail on the planet are running on Chinese tracks. China's lead role in green technology may be well known to many in the world. Less well-known is that China have now also moved from the back seat to the front seat to the lead position, creating the largest national park system in the world. China is the biggest tree planting in the world. And president Xi Jinping recently went to Guangdong Province to set up a mangrove best practice center to bring attention to the importance of protecting the mangroves, this forest in the sea.

I would love to see all Western leaders also go to mangrove forest. I believe we are at the turning point in human history, because we have a choice which was not there for our grandparents and parents. If in the past, any nation wanted to bring people out of poverty, they could not do it without coal, without oil and gas. So if you prioritize the economy, (there) was a price to be paid for the ecology. If in the past, you wanted to bring everyone out of poverty, it came with certain destruction of forest and unfortunate the eradication of a huge number of animals. But the good news: this was the 20th century. the 21st century, we don't have any such choice to make. We can prioritize both economy and ecology. The same time. We have all the win-win solutions, which are good for jobs and good for mother earth. China can lead the global development for this win-win of the future.

China has a very strong government, which can give a vision to the people, set a direction and create the rules for the market. As an example, as early as 2009, the Chinese government made a policy for electric vehicles. This year massive take of tax breaks for electric mobility were made. The market is producing the cars that government is setting the direction. China also has a vibrant, green business, and it makes absolute business sense for China to go into the green.

China didn't really have a brand of the old cars. There's no Chinese Toyota or Chinese Volkswagen known everywhere in the world. So for China, it was smart environment policy, but also a whole smart industrial policy to leapfrog into electric cars. And it pays off. They say China passed Japan as the biggest exporter of cars in the world, creating numerous jobs around China. And BYD passed Tesla as the biggest electric car company in the world. It's not just BYD in Shenzhen, Geely, Xpeng, NIO, Hongqi, and a lot more companies creating value for the business owners, jobs for the people and development all over China while going green.

And the Chinese companies are now the biggest in every sector. Longi in Shaanxi is the biggest solar company in the world. China Three Gorges is the biggest hydropower company in the world. Goldwind and Envision from Jiangsu are the biggest wind companies in the world. And as I said, BYD is the biggest electric car producer in the world, but it's not just government and business. It's also all about the people.

Then 15 years ago, I came to China and spoke to people. Nearly everyone told me we want change; we don't want to live in Beijing with all these pollutions; we want a big change to happen. Government listened to the people, and the success of cleaning helps pollution in China is unprecedented everywhere in the world. But to create a successful environment movement in the world, it must be a people's movement, must speak to everyone to the farmer in Henan, to the coal miner in Shanxi, to the industrial worker in the Chinese Northeast.

It cannot only be for the young and trendy in Shenzhen or in Shanghai. That's why government must take the fair transition very seriously. Any government in the world, need to provide green jobs for everyone, training schemes for those who have to change job, regional investment schemes for areas which are lagging behind. Because the green transformation will create many more jobs, but some people may feel that jobs will come for someone else, not for them or for their area. That's why fair transition is so critical. A very good example of how China brings all these together is in the Yalong River, in Sichuan. I went there earlier this year, the International Hydropower Association. In Yalong River, massive investments in solar, in the wind were made. They use hydropower in the river, which is a tributary to the Yangtze. They use that as a battery. They use the latest in information technology to make this smart and integrated, and (it's) working well. Just this one valley, the Yalong Valley in Sichuan, will be able to bring renewable power to 100 million people.

I've spoken about some of the great successes of the green transformation of China. This, of course, also means that China, has a lot to share with other nations in the world, that's what we focus on in the Belt and Road Green Development Alliance.

There are so many successes in these 10 years, Laos-China railroad making these landlocked, small nations connected to the great Chinese-European rail system. Bandung-Jakarta, they drove in Indonesia, which hopefully can be taken all the way to the city of Surabaya. The roads from Africa, from Mombasa, and Kenya, to the inner Kenya and so many others. And president Xi announced that China will stop all overseas coal investment. Belt and Road is now a massive investment opportunity for green development, for solar and wind. And we will see enormous progress in all the 150 nations, which are part of Belt and Road thanks to the exchange with China, Chinese investment. But of course, it is also bringing all these back to China. I have great visions for how Belt and Road can develop further. I think we can build a railroad all the way from Singapore, from Malaysia, Thailand to China, to link all over Southeast Asia, to China and the European rail network.

The rails in Africa can be taken all the way to Uganda, to Rwanda, to Burundi and inner Africa, making these landlocked nations linked to ports and the coast, promoting economic development in a green way.

Of course, there are any amounts of opportunities, solar and wind and hydropower all over the world spearheaded by Chinese companies, supported by the Chinese people and the Chinese government.

I believe, we have a fantastic opportunity, and there is every reason to be optimistic for the 21st century. For the first time, we can create jobs, create prosperity, bring everyone out of poverty, but do it in a way that will show respect for this one planet as we share together. This the future is about the win-win solutions. Good for Mother Earth, good for jobs and prosperity all the same. Thank you so much for listening!

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)