A Report on Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization

Today, I would like to share a report written by our joint team of the Xinhua Institute and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

The title of report is a bit long — “Toward a More Beautiful China and Cleaner World：Understanding Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization̶ — Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization in Chinese Practice andIts Contribution to the World”. It was written in Chinese and a summary was translated into English. So the English summary does not include all the contents in the Chinese version of the report.

I think its relatively more valuable parts include how Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization was formed and its key elements, China’s ecological civilization construction practices and achievements, and what kind of institutional measures China has taken to guarantee the construction of ecological civilization.

Regarding the key elements of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, we need to know it is an open and inclusive system of thoughts that is constantly enriched and improved as practice progresses in depth. Basically, the “Ten Adherences”, “Four Major Transitions” and “Five Major Relationships” are key points.

The “Ten Adherences” are:

— Adhere to the Party's overall leadership over the construction of ecological civilization.

— Adhere to the principle that a flourishing ecology leads to a flourishing civilization.

— Adhere to the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

— Adhere to that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

— Adhere to that a sound ecological environment represents the most inclusive well-being for the people's livelihood.

— Adhere to the idea that green development is a profound revolution in the concept of development.

— Adhere to the coordinated and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts.

— Adhere to protecting the ecological environment with the strictest systems and the most rigorous rule of law.

— Adhere to the transformation of building a Beautiful China into the conscious actions of all the people.

— Adhere to jointly exploring the path of global ecological civilization construction.

The “Four Major Transitions” are:

— From remediation to systematic governance.

— From reactive response to proactive action.

— From a participant in global environmental governance to a leader.

— From practical exploration to scientific theoretical guidance.

The “Five Major Relationships” are:

— Between high-quality development and high-level protection.

— Between focusing on breakthroughs and coordinated governance.

— Between natural recovery and manual restoration.

— Between external constraints and endogenous impetus.

— Between the “dual-carbon commitments” to carbon peaking/carbon neutrality and Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs).

Regarding to the institutional guarantee, effective measures include:

— Incorporating into the Party Constitution the following statements: “The Communist Party of China leads the people in building a socialist ecological civilization” and “Enhancing the awareness that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.” In March 2018, the words “ecological civilization” were written into China’s Constitution.

— Dozens of policy documents and reform plans were issued on various aspects related to ecological and environmental protection.

— The Environmental Protection Law, amended in 2014, establishes in the form of law the basic concepts, principles, and systems that must be followed in building an ecological civilization, clarifies the specific measures for increased legal sanctions against environmental violations, and establishes the systems of continuous daily penalties, environmental public interest litigation, and compensation for ecological and environmental damage, etc. The Civil Code adopted in May 2020 establishes the green principle as a basic tenet governing civil activities and dedicates a chapter to regulating environmental pollution and ecological damage. Individual laws on the eco-environment, including pollution prevention and control of the atmosphere, water, soil, and other ecological elements such as wetland protection and biosafety, have been comprehensively formulated and revised. Ten laws on ecological conservation and environmental protection have been rolled out one after another to fill the legislative gaps in related fields, covering various environmental elements and natural ecosystems such as mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, deserts, and other ecological systems, with the legal norms further clarified and specified.

China pays full attention to systems integration, synergy, and efficiency, and emphasizes enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement. With regard to building an ecological and environmental governance system, China has built an environmental governance system with the government taking the lead, enterprises forming the mainstay, and social groups and the public participating jointly. An environmental governance system is taking shape, characterized by clear guidance, scientifically sound decision-making, strong execution, effective incentives, diversified participation, and virtuous interaction.

At the responsibility level, the overall leadership of the Party has been strengthened with the establishment of a responsibility system that features comprehensive coverage, corresponding powers and responsibilities, clear rewards and punishments, and interlocking linkages. At the regulatory level, China set up the Ministry of Natural Resources to uniformly exercise all responsibilities for the control of land use and ecological conservation and restoration; China established the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to uniformly exercise all responsibilities for the supervision and administrative enforcement of ecological pollution as well as urban and rural pollution and discharge. At the market level, the country has improved the system of market-oriented allocation of resources and environmental factors, and incorporated carbon emission rights, energy user rights, water use rights, and sewage disposal rights into the overall reform of market-oriented allocation of said factors. It has deepened the reform of the system of compensated use of natural resources and improved the mechanism for natural resource pricing.

All these points are important to understand Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, which is guiding China’s ecological civilization construction.