Foreword I
vii
adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21 and other
documents and China promised to set out on the path toward sustainable development.
In March 1994, China released China’s Agenda 21: White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century, specifying that changing
the development strategy and setting on the path toward sustainable development is
the right choice for China when it is seeking ways to accelerate economic growth and
solve environmental issues. In 1997, at the 15th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China, sustainable development was first written into the report of the conference as a strategic choice of the country. During this period, the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Jiang Zemin as the core focused
on maintaining ecological security proposed the strategy of returning farmland to
forests and closing mountains for afforestation and issued a call for actions to make
the country beautiful again.
The new century has seen China’s social development entering a new phase.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China led by General Secretary Hu Jintao advocated the “scientific development concept,” which is a summation of the “comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development,” emphasized
sustainable development and utilization of nature alongside harmonious coexistence
between mankind and nature, regarded “harmonious coexistence between mankind
and nature” as one of the basic characteristics of a harmonious socialist society, called
for correct handling of the relationship between quantity/quality and speed/efficiency,
promoted coordinated development of resources, environment, and economy with
both short-term and long-term development goals in mind, and placed the goal of
transforming into a sustainable society at a prominent place in the country’s industrialization and modernization strategy. The proposal of “building an ecological civilization” was put forward for the first time at the 17th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China in 2007, marking the formal establishment of the socialist
ecological civilization concept, a new development concept of the Communist Party
of China in governing and rejuvenating the country. The proposal of the concept was
a major step in the advancement of theories, paths, and models of human civilization
development.
The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a
new era. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi
Jinping at its core is keeping a close eye on the changes in the main social contradictions in the new era and integrating ecological civilization into the overall plan for
promoting all-round economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress and
the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy. It emphasizes that building an ecological civilization is of fundamental importance to China’s sustainable development,
continuously enriches the Marxist theory concerning the relationship between man
and nature, puts the new development concept in practice, and deepens the reform
of the ecological civilization system. The CPC Central Committee’s determination
to build an ecological civilization and the intensity and effectiveness of the efforts it
has made for this purpose are unparalleled, opening up a new chapter in ecological
conservation. A large number of environmental protection projects related to people’s
livelihoods, including air, water, and soil pollution prevention and control projects,
vii
adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21 and other
documents and China promised to set out on the path toward sustainable development.
In March 1994, China released China’s Agenda 21: White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century, specifying that changing
the development strategy and setting on the path toward sustainable development is
the right choice for China when it is seeking ways to accelerate economic growth and
solve environmental issues. In 1997, at the 15th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China, sustainable development was first written into the report of the conference as a strategic choice of the country. During this period, the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Jiang Zemin as the core focused
on maintaining ecological security proposed the strategy of returning farmland to
forests and closing mountains for afforestation and issued a call for actions to make
the country beautiful again.
The new century has seen China’s social development entering a new phase.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China led by General Secretary Hu Jintao advocated the “scientific development concept,” which is a summation of the “comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development,” emphasized
sustainable development and utilization of nature alongside harmonious coexistence
between mankind and nature, regarded “harmonious coexistence between mankind
and nature” as one of the basic characteristics of a harmonious socialist society, called
for correct handling of the relationship between quantity/quality and speed/efficiency,
promoted coordinated development of resources, environment, and economy with
both short-term and long-term development goals in mind, and placed the goal of
transforming into a sustainable society at a prominent place in the country’s industrialization and modernization strategy. The proposal of “building an ecological civilization” was put forward for the first time at the 17th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China in 2007, marking the formal establishment of the socialist
ecological civilization concept, a new development concept of the Communist Party
of China in governing and rejuvenating the country. The proposal of the concept was
a major step in the advancement of theories, paths, and models of human civilization
development.
The theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a
new era. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi
Jinping at its core is keeping a close eye on the changes in the main social contradictions in the new era and integrating ecological civilization into the overall plan for
promoting all-round economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological progress and
the Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy. It emphasizes that building an ecological civilization is of fundamental importance to China’s sustainable development,
continuously enriches the Marxist theory concerning the relationship between man
and nature, puts the new development concept in practice, and deepens the reform
of the ecological civilization system. The CPC Central Committee’s determination
to build an ecological civilization and the intensity and effectiveness of the efforts it
has made for this purpose are unparalleled, opening up a new chapter in ecological
conservation. A large number of environmental protection projects related to people’s
livelihoods, including air, water, and soil pollution prevention and control projects,