Global Transformation of China’s Ecological Civilization …
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conflicts. The principle of ecological priority is against the traditional development
thinking with economic benefits at the core, and focuses on coordinated development
of economy, environment and society, involving ecological law priority, ecological
capital priority, and ecological benefit priority.
We should pass down ecological civilization and develop the innovative genes of
industrial civilization—something that’s different from industrial civilization. Innovation under ecological civilization is not only to maximize benefits, but to achieve
sustainable economic benefits based on the premise of ensuring and improving
ecological efficiency. In other words, as pointed out by the 19th National Congress,
the value system of ecological civilization in a new era is, in essence, to pursue a
model of sustainable development featuring increased production, higher living standards, and healthy ecosystems. It is a path of ecological prosperity, social happiness,
and harmonious co-existence between man and nature. The social relationship based
on this value system is not a web of intrigue, vicious competition, and a zero-sum
game; instead, it’s about mutual benefits, a win-win situation, and harmonious coexistence. We should not exhaust natural resources as the natural ecosystem has only
limited carrying capacity and threshold constraints.
2 Cornerstone of the Natural Values and Theoretical
Economics of Ecological Civilization
The value theory of industrial civilization is based on the labor value theory of
classical economics. Physical labor is turned into average social labor, and people
make products for exchange purposes, and create value in the process. As such,
value is measured by labor, with labor results distributed based on the number of
labor hours, and the value of nature is ignored or even negated. In Western Europe,
where classical economics was born, people used to think that natural resources—
for example, relatively constant water supply, the atmosphere with a relatively stable
chemical structure, and continued solar radiation—were unlimited without scarcity.
They were not for exchange purposes and are valueless as a result. The system design
under industrial civilization focused on protecting the accumulated wealth through
labor, while ignoring laborers with limited abilities to create value as well as nature
deemed as something without market value.
Ecological civilization first recognizes the value of nature and believes that there
is no substitute for nature. Human labor does not contribute to the output and
services that nature provides, but the products and services created and provided by
nature have features like regeneration (reproduction), cultivation (self-restoration),
and interaction (interdependence), and they are systematic (as a whole). And nature
also offers the inorganic environment, materials and media as well. The preservation
and appreciation of natural assets come from the value of nature’s labor. Comrade
Xi Jinping offered a famous scientific thesis that “green mountains and clear waters
are as good as mountains of gold and silver,” which fully embodies the concept
689
conflicts. The principle of ecological priority is against the traditional development
thinking with economic benefits at the core, and focuses on coordinated development
of economy, environment and society, involving ecological law priority, ecological
capital priority, and ecological benefit priority.
We should pass down ecological civilization and develop the innovative genes of
industrial civilization—something that’s different from industrial civilization. Innovation under ecological civilization is not only to maximize benefits, but to achieve
sustainable economic benefits based on the premise of ensuring and improving
ecological efficiency. In other words, as pointed out by the 19th National Congress,
the value system of ecological civilization in a new era is, in essence, to pursue a
model of sustainable development featuring increased production, higher living standards, and healthy ecosystems. It is a path of ecological prosperity, social happiness,
and harmonious co-existence between man and nature. The social relationship based
on this value system is not a web of intrigue, vicious competition, and a zero-sum
game; instead, it’s about mutual benefits, a win-win situation, and harmonious coexistence. We should not exhaust natural resources as the natural ecosystem has only
limited carrying capacity and threshold constraints.
2 Cornerstone of the Natural Values and Theoretical
Economics of Ecological Civilization
The value theory of industrial civilization is based on the labor value theory of
classical economics. Physical labor is turned into average social labor, and people
make products for exchange purposes, and create value in the process. As such,
value is measured by labor, with labor results distributed based on the number of
labor hours, and the value of nature is ignored or even negated. In Western Europe,
where classical economics was born, people used to think that natural resources—
for example, relatively constant water supply, the atmosphere with a relatively stable
chemical structure, and continued solar radiation—were unlimited without scarcity.
They were not for exchange purposes and are valueless as a result. The system design
under industrial civilization focused on protecting the accumulated wealth through
labor, while ignoring laborers with limited abilities to create value as well as nature
deemed as something without market value.
Ecological civilization first recognizes the value of nature and believes that there
is no substitute for nature. Human labor does not contribute to the output and
services that nature provides, but the products and services created and provided by
nature have features like regeneration (reproduction), cultivation (self-restoration),
and interaction (interdependence), and they are systematic (as a whole). And nature
also offers the inorganic environment, materials and media as well. The preservation
and appreciation of natural assets come from the value of nature’s labor. Comrade
Xi Jinping offered a famous scientific thesis that “green mountains and clear waters
are as good as mountains of gold and silver,” which fully embodies the concept