Aiming for shared prosperity, the BRI also seeks to boost the building of ecological civilization along the route. 

At the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation in environmental protection and building an ecological civilization to accomplish the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Programs on eco-environmental cooperation were established to enable the building of a green BRI that benefits all; for example, the launch of BRI Green Supply Chain program, which provides environmental data support to countries participating in the BRI, including environmental protection laws, regulations and standards, environmental policies and management measures, and technical exchanges.

Playing a positive role in connecting participating countries together to embark on a green path, the BRI will facilitate the building of ecological civilization and thus advance the cause of the community with a shared future for mankind.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the building of ecological civilization has become increasingly important. At the same time, the concept of the community of a shared future for mankind has become more and more influential in the international community. 

How to understand the relationship between ecological civilization and the community of a shared future for mankind?  

To find answer to this question, Closer to China sits down with Pan Yue, executive vice president of the Central Institute of Socialism and former vice minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.  

According to Pan Yue, there are several kinds of civilizations: people work for their own survival in rural civilization; people chase wealth and interest in industrial civilization; people are interrelated in ecological civilization since we jointly bear the irreversible environmental crisis that knows no borders in an integral ecological system. 

In such a context, ecological civilization calls for the building of the community with a shared future for mankind to jointly address the environmental issues confronting all human beings on earth. 

Pan Yue states that China has never engaged in imperialism or colonialism, the historical genes—peace, green, openness, inclusiveness—are embedded in the building of the community of a shared future for mankind.