Deeply Studying and Apprehending the Practical …
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production, and build the first methane tank in the province using straws and livestock and poultry feces. This is his earliest practices in environmental protection.
The second stage was when he worked in Zhengding, Hebei Province. In consideration of the local reality, Xi Jinping put forward the idea of “big agriculture” in a
bid to realize the balance between agriculture and ecology, coordinate ecological and
economic targets, and create a sound and circular productive structure. When leading
the compilation of the Plan for Economic, Technological and Social Development of
Zhengding, he stressed that “protecting the environment, eliminating pollution and
maintaining eco-balance is an important task of modernization and an urgent demand
of people’s life and production,” and insisted on including in the plan that “we’d rather
give up economic benefits than cause pollution; we will prohibit pollution transfer
to the countryside.” These plain words presented new development concepts as well
as practical approaches, and conveyed the important thought of harmony between
man and nature. The third stage was when he worked in Fujian. Comrade Xi Jinping
said east Fujian should “make full use of its mountains and sea” and urged it to
coordinate social, economic and ecological benefits. He initiated the strategic idea
of “urban ecological progress” and ecological civilization, and called for efforts to
develop the local economy and boost related industries by leveraging its environmental advantages, so as to drive economic growth and liberate and develop local
productivity. When serving as the governor of Fujian Province, Comrade Xi personally headed up the provincial leading group of ecological civilization, launched the
most massive eco-protection program in the provincial history, and proposed with
great vision to build Fujian into an ecological province. The fourth stage was when he
worked in Zhejiang. After setting the goal of building a “green Zhejiang,” he further
elaborated on the relation between ecological progress and civilization development.
He repeatedly demanded intensifying the assessment of performance in ecological
protection and preservation and establishing related systems, suggested “exploring
a performance assessment system that encourages circular economic development
and corresponding incentive and restrictive mechanisms”, so as to “gradually steer
circular economic development onto the law-based track”. Xi’s article “Lucid Waters
and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets” published on Zhejiang Daily made it
clear that “if we can translate environmental advantages into eco-economic advantages, such as eco-agriculture, eco-industry and eco-tourism, lucid waters and lush
mountains will become invaluable assets.” The fifth stage is the construction of
beautiful China. In this period, Xi Jinping begins to comprehensively contemplate
the ecosystem as a systematic entirety from the perspective of top-level design, under
which a raft of views containing ecological philosophy and the practices of building a
beautiful China verify, complement and promote each other. Amid the overall vision
of state governance and the systematic thinking of civilization development, the Xi
Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has been enriched and sublimated.
The most profound practical foundation for the Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological
Civilization comes from the theoretical results formed during the great practice of
promoting ecological progress since the 18th CPC National Congress. While China
has worked world-shocking wonders in economic and social development, it has also
encountered a lot of eco-environmental problems, and people are making growing
213
production, and build the first methane tank in the province using straws and livestock and poultry feces. This is his earliest practices in environmental protection.
The second stage was when he worked in Zhengding, Hebei Province. In consideration of the local reality, Xi Jinping put forward the idea of “big agriculture” in a
bid to realize the balance between agriculture and ecology, coordinate ecological and
economic targets, and create a sound and circular productive structure. When leading
the compilation of the Plan for Economic, Technological and Social Development of
Zhengding, he stressed that “protecting the environment, eliminating pollution and
maintaining eco-balance is an important task of modernization and an urgent demand
of people’s life and production,” and insisted on including in the plan that “we’d rather
give up economic benefits than cause pollution; we will prohibit pollution transfer
to the countryside.” These plain words presented new development concepts as well
as practical approaches, and conveyed the important thought of harmony between
man and nature. The third stage was when he worked in Fujian. Comrade Xi Jinping
said east Fujian should “make full use of its mountains and sea” and urged it to
coordinate social, economic and ecological benefits. He initiated the strategic idea
of “urban ecological progress” and ecological civilization, and called for efforts to
develop the local economy and boost related industries by leveraging its environmental advantages, so as to drive economic growth and liberate and develop local
productivity. When serving as the governor of Fujian Province, Comrade Xi personally headed up the provincial leading group of ecological civilization, launched the
most massive eco-protection program in the provincial history, and proposed with
great vision to build Fujian into an ecological province. The fourth stage was when he
worked in Zhejiang. After setting the goal of building a “green Zhejiang,” he further
elaborated on the relation between ecological progress and civilization development.
He repeatedly demanded intensifying the assessment of performance in ecological
protection and preservation and establishing related systems, suggested “exploring
a performance assessment system that encourages circular economic development
and corresponding incentive and restrictive mechanisms”, so as to “gradually steer
circular economic development onto the law-based track”. Xi’s article “Lucid Waters
and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets” published on Zhejiang Daily made it
clear that “if we can translate environmental advantages into eco-economic advantages, such as eco-agriculture, eco-industry and eco-tourism, lucid waters and lush
mountains will become invaluable assets.” The fifth stage is the construction of
beautiful China. In this period, Xi Jinping begins to comprehensively contemplate
the ecosystem as a systematic entirety from the perspective of top-level design, under
which a raft of views containing ecological philosophy and the practices of building a
beautiful China verify, complement and promote each other. Amid the overall vision
of state governance and the systematic thinking of civilization development, the Xi
Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has been enriched and sublimated.
The most profound practical foundation for the Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological
Civilization comes from the theoretical results formed during the great practice of
promoting ecological progress since the 18th CPC National Congress. While China
has worked world-shocking wonders in economic and social development, it has also
encountered a lot of eco-environmental problems, and people are making growing