Green transformation: A catalyst for new quality productive forces

Editor's note: Jin Jun is an associate professor at the School of Management at Zhejiang University. Chen Tailun is an assistant researcher at the School of Management, Zhejiang University. The article reflects the authors' opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On the occasion of the 50th World Environment Day, the world once again turns its attention to a common theme: How can we find development opportunities while preserving nature, and achieve a win-win outcome in both ecological conservation and high-quality development? As the world's second-largest economy, China's efforts and explorations on this front have not only charted a course for its own development but also contributed Chinese wisdom to global sustainable development. 

In the past, some people had viewed green transformation as a "shackle" on economic development, arguing that strict environmental standards would hinder economic growth. However, China's practice has demonstrated that major economies can achieve carbon reduction goals while pursuing development. Rather than a constraint on economic development, green transformation is a key force propelling the advancements of new quality productive forces.

Green transformation facilitates the emergence of new quality productive forces, expedites enterprises' transformation and upgrading, and opens up new cross-sector markets and avenues. In green transformation, "carbon" has become not only a vital asset but also an indispensable production factor. For example, cement companies such as Conch have adopted carbon capture, utilization, and storage technologies in their flue gas treatment processes, significantly reducing their CO₂ emissions while transforming themselves into suppliers of high-quality CO₂ for semiconductor and food companies. Meanwhile, business models such as carbon accounts, carbon credits, and carbon management are driving the promotion and adoption of new energy vehicles (NEVs), while laying the groundwork for new commercial avenues for the NEV industry. Green finance products such as carbon trading and green supply chains are also encouraging a growing number of organizations to actively pursue sustainable practices.

Green transformation gives rise to new application scenarios for digital intelligence technologies, simultaneously advances industrial digitalization and green transformation, and nurtures new pillar industries. These two transformations are progressing in tandem, with the green transformation creating new application scenarios for digital intelligence technologies. Innovations in digital intelligence workflows and processes have enabled traditional enterprises to reduce pollution and cut emissions, forming a core mechanism for the green transition of traditional industries. China's modern automobile industry, which is an emerging pillar sector, has offered a textbook example of how simultaneous industrial digital and green transformations empower the development of new quality productive forces. While nurturing new quality productive forces, the green transformation of this industry is also driving the construction of smart transport infrastructure across regions, forming new industrial and supply chains, and reshaping production relations. This has spawned multiple green industrial avenues, achieving mutual benefits across technological, social, and environmental dimensions while elevating the global influence of China's automobile industry.

Green transformation is integrated into corporate development strategies, helping them build new competitive advantages and influence while fostering a harmonious relationship between enterprises, technologies, and nature. Many Chinese enterprises have integrated green and sustainable development into their development strategies to boost their influence and improve their social image. 

For instance, biodiversity protection has become a key objective in project development for many wind and hydropower companies. In China Huadian Corporation's hydropower project on the upper Jinsha River, innovative measures such as constructing safe passages for migratory marine animals and implementing fish restocking programs have led to the creation of the "Upper Jinsha River Model", which coordinates watershed hydropower planning with environmental protection. Similarly, Goldwind has pioneered the use of bird flight monitoring and collision avoidance technologies to ensure the safety of birds passing through its wind farms.

In summary, China's green transformation has spurred the advancements of new quality productive forces, accelerating the emergence of new production factors, the formation of novel production relations, and the rise of innovative business paradigms. It is also fostering a new type of harmonious relationship among organizations, technologies, communities, and nature, catalyzing systemic transformation of society, technology, and the environment, and empowering the co-evolution of new productive forces and production relations. Green transformation not only serves as a critical pathway for China's high-quality economic development but also a foundational pillar for building a community with a shared future for humanity and nature.