Tang Tao: Promoting High-Quality Construction of the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone

General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "We must continue to effectively remediate prominent environmental issues and pursue high-quality development of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones." The establishment of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones is a major strategic deployment made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. The "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development," adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee ^[1], proposed: "Continue the development of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones, establish Beautiful China ^[2] pilot areas, and create highlands for green development." The construction of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones carries the important mission of adhering to and expanding the path of modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature. These zones serve as "experimental fields for reform" to resolve deep-seated contradictions in ecological civilization construction and as "demonstration windows" for building a Beautiful China. They hold significant theoretical value and practical meaning for achieving high-quality development.

Green development is the distinctive backdrop of Chinese-path modernization, and the construction of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones is an important manifestation of practicing the philosophy of green development. Adhering to green development requires breaking the shackles of traditional development concepts and thoroughly changing the extensive ^[3] development model characterized by high consumption, high emissions, and high pollution. It entails consciously restricting economic activities and human behavior within the limits of what natural resources and the ecological environment can sustain, thereby achieving a fundamental transformation in development philosophy. Constructing National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones means combining the theory and practice of ecological civilization construction under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization ^[4]. It involves conducting centralized, comprehensive experiments on the reform of the ecological civilization system. Driven by the modernization of the ecological environmental governance system and governance capacity, these efforts focus on removing institutional and mechanistic obstacles, deeply integrating the concept of green development into all processes and aspects of economic and social development, and injecting lasting ecological momentum into high-quality development. The practical exploration of these pilot zones concerns the overall landscape of development and is a complex systemic project. We must adhere to a systems perspective, remain problem-oriented, and stay innovation-driven, constantly deepening our understanding of the laws governing ecological civilization construction in practice to achieve high-quality development of these pilot zones.

We must coordinate protection and development by using institutional innovation as a lever. Properly handling the relationship between ecological protection and economic development is a practical challenge that must be faced in the process of Chinese-path modernization. Erroneous concepts formed under traditional development models—such as "pollute first, treat later" and "emphasizing development while neglecting protection"—have led to increasingly prominent contradictions between ecological protection and economic development. As national-level comprehensive experimental platforms for systemic reform, the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones have consistently used institutional innovation as a lever in their practical explorations. Through a series of reform measures—including constructing an evaluation system for ecological civilization construction goals, improving a systematic and complete performance evaluation and accountability system, and refining the natural resource property rights system—they have focused on breaking path dependency on traditional development models. They have promoted the formation of a virtuous cycle of "high-level protection—high-quality development—benefit for the whole society," finding the nexus between ecological protection and economic development. For example, Fujian, as the first National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone, abolished GDP performance rankings for 34 key ecological functional counties (and cities) across the province, shifting the evaluation focus to ecological protection and the growth of urban and rural residents' incomes. This type of institutional innovation promotes changes in development modes, powerfully proving that ecological protection and economic development are not mutually exclusive but can promote and complement each other. To build National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones with high quality, we must further explore the construction of an ecological civilization institutional system characterized by clear guidance, scientific decision-making, powerful execution, and effective incentives. By being the first to experiment and venture, we can create more institutional achievements that can be replicated and promoted.

We must promote green transformation supported by green technology. High-quality development is development in which green development has become the universal form; it facilitates the organic unity of development quality, efficiency, and ecological sustainability. Going green and low-carbon are inherent requirements of high-quality development. Pursuing high-quality construction of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones means accelerating the cultivation of new drivers for green development, promoting changes in production and consumption patterns, and better transforming ecological advantages into development advantages. We must vigorously develop new quality productive forces, accelerate green technological innovation and the promotion and application of advanced green technologies, improve resource utilization efficiency, and reduce the resource and environmental costs of development to promote a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. For instance, Guizhou has continuously advanced its pilot zone construction by relying on national science and technology plans to support eligible ecological civilization technological innovations. It has promoted breakthroughs in key common core technologies in priority fields and their application demonstrations, fostering an integrated system of industry-university-research for green tech and a technical support system for the industrialization of scientific achievements, thereby providing "wings" of green technology for ecological civilization construction. We must focus on key areas such as ecological protection, the conservation and intensive use of energy and resources, and the promotion of green, low-carbon lifestyles. We should continue to increase investment in green tech R&D, better utilize information technologies like big data and artificial intelligence in ecological governance, and support the tackling of key core technologies and the transformation of achievements, making green technology a powerful support for green transformation.

We must demonstrate that "ecology is for the people" by pursuing people's well-being. Adhering to the people-centered approach is the fundamental position for upholding and developing Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era. A sound ecological environment is the most universal benefit for the people's wellbeing. In building these pilot zones, we must always adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, taking green transformation as the direction and the improvement of people's livelihoods as the goal. We must focus on solving prominent environmental problems that concern the masses, continue to advance the tough battle against pollution and the optimization of ecosystems, and create a production and living environment suitable for habitation and work, so that the people can obtain tangible well-being from environmental improvements. For example, Hainan has focused on building its pilot zone by formulating and implementing a pilot scheme for the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park system. It established a unified management agency for the park and implemented projects to improve the human settlement environment in park communities and villages. This has not only enhanced the efficiency of ecological governance but also better activated the ecological value of the tropical rainforest, enhancing people's well-being. Such reform measures allow the masses to obtain real ecological dividends as they "see green upon opening their windows" and rest in peace, vividly illustrating the people-centered development philosophy. To ensure the high-quality construction of National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones proceeds steadily and reaches far, we must base our efforts on regional resource endowments and developmental realities. We must coordinate the systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts ^[5], fight the battles to keep our skies blue, waters clear, and land pollution-free, continuously improve the quality of the ecological environment, enrich the supply of ecological products, and ensure the fruits of ecological civilization construction benefit all people more fairly and extensively.