Exploring the Road to the Law-Based
Green Development of the Yangtze River
Economic Belt
Gang Qiao
Ecological civilization is a new form of civilization after the primitive civilization,
agricultural civilization, and industrial civilization, and is also known as “green
civilization.” Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,
the content of ecological civilization has been continuously enriched and its status has
become more prominent. Especially in 2018, ecological civilization was officially
written into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, marking the formal
completion of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan. Green development has become an
inevitable requirement for building an ecological civilization, and is an engine for
and effective path to ecological progress. Law, as a regulatory means formulated or
approved by the state and enforced by the coercive force of the state, plays a decisive
role in promoting ecological progress and green development.
The Yangtze River nurtures more than 400 million people living on a quarter
of China’s land territory, benefiting them with irrigation, navigation and fishing.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt is the strategic zone in China’s latest round of
regional opening-up, an inland river economic belt with global influence, a coordinated development zone for the interaction and cooperation of the east, central and
west China, and a pioneering and demonstration zone for ecological conservation. Its
plans, policies and institutions should all work to promote green development. Under
the guidance of the vision of ecological civilization, we should use legal means to
promote the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and steer it
toward a resource-saving and eco-friendly green development path.
G. Qiao (B)
Western Ecological Law Research Center, Southwest University of Political Science and Law,
Chongqing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_67
677
Green Development of the Yangtze River
Economic Belt
Gang Qiao
Ecological civilization is a new form of civilization after the primitive civilization,
agricultural civilization, and industrial civilization, and is also known as “green
civilization.” Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,
the content of ecological civilization has been continuously enriched and its status has
become more prominent. Especially in 2018, ecological civilization was officially
written into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, marking the formal
completion of the Five-Sphere Integrated Plan. Green development has become an
inevitable requirement for building an ecological civilization, and is an engine for
and effective path to ecological progress. Law, as a regulatory means formulated or
approved by the state and enforced by the coercive force of the state, plays a decisive
role in promoting ecological progress and green development.
The Yangtze River nurtures more than 400 million people living on a quarter
of China’s land territory, benefiting them with irrigation, navigation and fishing.
The Yangtze River Economic Belt is the strategic zone in China’s latest round of
regional opening-up, an inland river economic belt with global influence, a coordinated development zone for the interaction and cooperation of the east, central and
west China, and a pioneering and demonstration zone for ecological conservation. Its
plans, policies and institutions should all work to promote green development. Under
the guidance of the vision of ecological civilization, we should use legal means to
promote the green development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and steer it
toward a resource-saving and eco-friendly green development path.
G. Qiao (B)
Western Ecological Law Research Center, Southwest University of Political Science and Law,
Chongqing, China
© China Environment Publishing Group Co., Ltd. 2021
J. Pan et al. (eds.), Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views
on Eco-civilization Construction, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6742-5_67
677