Why are lucid waters and lush mountains vital to China?

With its breathtaking green tea mountains, vibrant flower fields and charming buildings adorned with traditional white walls and black tiles, Yucun Village, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, has been named one of the world's "Best Tourism Villages."

However, two decades ago, filthy water and dust-covered trees lay beneath a grey sky, as the remote village used to rely on limestone mining and processing industries for economic output.

By the early 2000s, recognizing the grave environmental consequences, officials in Yucun decided to close down cement plants and mines. The move won the praise of Xi Jinping, then Party secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

During a visit to Yucun on August 15, 2005, he called the decision to shut down some mines "a wise move." "We used to say that we wanted both lucid waters and lush mountains, as well as mountains of gold and silver. In fact, lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of gold and silver," he added.

After the visit, Xi explained the concept in a newspaper article. "We need to choose the right direction and create conditions to continuously turn lucid waters and lush mountains into mountains of gold and silver," he wrote.

Over the following decades, the vision has spread across China, guiding tens of thousands of villages to channel ecological premiums into economic and social benefits, and generating a broad and strong international resonance.

The United Nations Environment Programme promoted China's philosophy of ecological progress in February 2013 and in 2016 released a report on China's strategies and practices in this field.

Last year, August 15 was chosen as China's National Ecology Day.

China in action

Acting on the belief that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, China has made concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development and intensify its response to climate change since the 18th CPC National Congress.

In 2015, a revised environmental protection law came into effect, with the provisions hailed as "the strictest" in history. In 2017, pollution control was identified as one of China's "three tough battles," along with poverty relief and risk control. In 2018, China incorporated ecological civilization into its Constitution for the first time.

China has achieved a forest coverage rate exceeding 24 percent, more than double the 12 percent of the early 1980s. Over the past decade, China has planted over 68 million hectares of new forests, ranking first in the world in terms of newly planted forest area, and has also created the world's largest area of planted forests.

Water quality has also markedly improved, with 84.9 percent of surface water sections achieving the excellent quality grade, approaching the levels seen in developed countries.

Across the country, wildlife on plateaus and mountains, as well as in rainforests, is also making a comeback amid the country's efforts to build the world's largest national park system.

The first national parks, established in 2021 with a total protected land area of 230,000 square km, are home to nearly 30 percent of the key terrestrial wildlife species found in the country, while the authenticity and integrity of the ecosystems in these parks are under effective protection.

In terms of carbon emissions, China has witnessed a 36.7 percent decrease in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP compared to 2012, and the PM2.5 density, a key indicator of air pollution, fell 57 percent from 2013 to 2022, while the annual number of days with serious air pollution dropped by 92 percent.

In the run-up to the second National Ecology Day, which falls on Thursday, China on August 11 issued a set of guidelines for accelerating a comprehensive green transition in all economic and social sectors, unveiling the country's first systematic deployment of green targets.

Deepening reform in ecological conservation

Adopted at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC in July, the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization called for further deepening reform in ecological conservation.

In an interview with Xinhua, Sun Jinlong, secretary of the Leading Party Members Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said efforts will be made to develop a responsibility system for the construction of a Beautiful China, and to refine the modern environmental governance system.

A region-specific, differentiated and targeted ecological environment management system will be established, and an emissions permit system will come into full force, he said.

According to Sun, China will boost its external supervision over owners, developers and regulators of natural resource assets, develop its national carbon market, improve its national voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction market, and establish a market-oriented innovation system for green technologies.