Hu Changsheng and An Xiaoxing: The Logic and Path for Accelerating the Green Transformation of Development Modes Under the Background of New Quality Productive Forces

The green transformation of developmental modes is an inherent component of ecological civilization construction, an inevitable requirement of the ecological outlook of Chinese-path modernization, a necessary path for the construction of a Beautiful China, and the field in which green development is realized. Adapting to the trends of technological digitalization and the evolution of civilizations, the Party’s top-level design has scientifically elucidated the original categories of new quality productive forces and the green transformation of developmental modes. Xi Jinping has pointed out that "new quality productive forces are themselves green productive forces." Building upon the requirement to "accelerate the green transformation of developmental modes" clarified at the 20th CPC National Congress, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made strategic plans to "focus on building a Beautiful China and accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development."

New quality productive forces aim to drive the transition and replacement of traditional productive forces. They refer to a new state of productive forces that uses digital technology as a key factor of production, empowers the optimization of economic structures and the enhancement of efficiency through digital technological innovation, and promotes the harmonious development of humanity and nature through the comprehensive digital and green transformation of all factors. The green transformation of developmental modes is committed to achieving a mutual convergence and "win-win" progression between ecological priority and the center of economic construction. It implies planning development from the height of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, continuously strengthening the green foundation of new quality productive forces, and supporting and advancing high-quality development with high-level protection and high-quality ecological environments. "Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes against the background of new quality productive forces" represents another innovation in developmental thought. As an important thesis of the New Era, this article seeks to explore its internal logic and practical paths.

I. The Requirements of the Times for Accelerating the Green Transformation of Developmental Modes under the Background of New Quality Productive Forces

Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes is the strategic engine for the systemic transformation of ecological civilization construction, an important breakthrough point for achieving high-quality development, and a key support for seizing the commanding heights of future development. It constitutes a triple logical necessity for the development of new quality productive forces: it is not only an essential requirement for their development and an internal requirement for manifesting their value propositions, but also an urgent demand for solidifying their green foundation.

(1) Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes is an essential requirement for the development of new quality productive forces. Promoting the upgrading of the state of productive forces by transforming developmental modes is the Party’s innovative judgment on the major question of how to develop new quality productive forces. As a leap in the state of productive forces, new quality productive forces take green development as a requirement; their essence lies in the green transformation of developmental modes. Currently, China’s modernization process exhibits a unique "five-dimensional coordination" ^[1] evolutionary paradigm in terms of space—namely, a "parallel" development pattern and structure involving industrialization, urbanization, agricultural and rural modernization, informatization, and "greenization." This differs markedly from the "serial" civilizational development trend of Western developed countries (industrialization followed by informatization). Coupled with the inertia of industrial civilizational development (a form of resistance to change), traditional growth drivers are showing diminishing marginal effects. It is urgent to activate the potential of ecological factors through a green technological revolution and construct a new driver system characterized by the "dual-wheel drive" of "optimizing existing stock and breaking through with incremental growth." This involves using incremental green drivers to activate the existing stock of green drivers, pushing developmental modes toward a comprehensive greening of all factors. In this context, the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee elevated "the green transformation of developmental modes" to a strategic height, profoundly revealing the internal laws of the evolution of new quality productive forces. That is, in the contemporary context of the deep coupling of the digital economy and the ecological civilization paradigm, new quality productive forces exhibit the dual attributes of being digitally driven and green-empowered. This represents not only a paradigm shift of productive factors toward new types such as digital technology, information data, and intelligent algorithms, but also a systemic reconstruction of the green, low-carbon, and sustainable development paradigm. It is a redefinition of the relationship between humanity and nature in the era of digital civilization and another innovation in developmental thought. In short, accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes and developing new quality productive forces are not isolated, one-dimensional developments. Instead, they are strategic issues that are mutually internal and external within the green development paradigm of the digital ecological civilization era. The former provides the green foundation and value orientation for the latter by driving an ecological turn in developmental models; the latter injects innovative momentum and technical support into the former by focusing on the innovative reshaping of productive factors.

(2) Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes is an internal requirement for manifesting the value propositions of new quality productive forces. As an important component of the development of new quality productive forces, green transformation is not only a reflection of its internal logic but also the core expression of its value propositions. Set against the background of the deepening of digitalization and informatization, "digital well-being" has become a new form of people's well-being in the process of digital transformation. The development of new quality productive forces is manifested in the dynamic coupling between technological progress and the improvement of people’s livelihoods. Its mechanism of action lies in "comprehensively driving changes in modes of production and lifestyle through digital transformation." Through the penetration, connection, and empowerment of digital technology, it bridges the links of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption to form a full-chain supply system for a happy life, thereby realizing a new vision and constructing a new paradigm for a better digital life. Within this, green transformation anchors the strategic direction and injects green momentum into the development of new quality productive forces. On one hand, through deep integration with digital technology, it systemically improves resource utilization and significantly reduces negative environmental externalities, building a sustainable resource guarantee system. This creates a regenerative positive feedback loop between the economic system and the ecosystem, providing a solid ecological foundation for the development of new quality productive forces. On the other hand, relying on green technological progress, new quality productive forces can achieve the precise allocation of resource factors and cluster-based synergistic efficiency. Digital intelligence platforms can accelerate the digital iteration of ecological products and services, promoting cost reduction and the release of "green welfare." This transforms the reduction of energy consumption per unit of GDP and ecological value into quantifiable livelihood dividends, comprehensively raising the level of social welfare. At the same time, the people's demand for a beautiful ecological environment is both the endogenous power for the green transformation of developmental modes and the logical starting point and value destination for developing new quality productive forces. As the subjects of practice, the people, on one hand, transform objective activities into developmental momentum by participating in green technological innovation; on the other hand, they achieve a reconstruction of subjectivity in the process of enjoying new quality services, turning the process of green consumption into a process of value creation and continuously strengthening the social consensus for development. In brief, the development of new quality productive forces continuously promotes the transformation of ecological value into a perceptible sense of gain in people's livelihoods, while green development continuously promotes the transformation of a beautiful ecological environment into quantifiable increments of happiness. Together, they manifest the subjectivity of the people and fully demonstrate the organic unity of the people as the subjects of value and the subjects of practice.

(3) Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes is an urgent requirement for solidifying the green foundation of new quality productive forces. A sound ecological environment is the foundation ^[2] of new quality productive forces; the comprehensive green transformation of developmental modes determines the "quality" of their future development. Currently, China is in a critical period of cultivating and developing new quality productive forces. Accelerating the green transformation of developmental modes is a strategic choice for solidifying the green base of new quality productive forces and following the path of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. "Different understandings, interpretations, and treatments of the relationship between humanity and nature lead to different civilizational forms; ecological civilization must persist in the harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature." New quality productive forces break through the traditional linear economic model, deeply integrate the New Development Philosophy ^[3], and are characterized by high efficiency and sustainability. Their development inherently requires the optimal allocation of resources. Therefore, green transformation is an inherent part of their definition, injecting them with sustainable vitality. First, relying on the deep integration and empowerment of digital technology, the coupling of data factors and green energy gives birth to "green digital twins," continuously reconstructing the paradigm of factor allocation and achieving optimization under the "dual constraints" of resource efficiency and environmental benefit, guiding the production system toward ecological intensification. Second, technological innovation is the core power of green transformation and a key factor in reshaping the green base of new quality productive forces. The integration and spillover effects of digital technology can reconstruct production systems and organizational methods, improve the total factor production function, and move development toward green, intelligent, and high-end directions. At the same time, it mitigates ecological deficits and internalizes environmental costs, further enhancing the resilience of the economic system. Finally, industrial synergy is both the practical direction of green transformation and an important path for solidifying the green base of new quality productive forces. Through the green synergy and spatial aggregation of industrial and supply chains, the improvement of green supply chain management, and the construction of a green innovation ecosystem, a self-organizing mechanism for the development of new quality productive forces is formed, ultimately achieving the deep coupling of economic development and environmental protection.

II. The Theoretical Connotations of Accelerating the Green Transformation of Developmental Modes under the Background of New Quality Productive Forces

Under the background of new quality productive forces, the green transformation of developmental modes involves the greening of economic growth, the qualitative reshaping of the three factors of productive forces, the shift toward thrifty and intensive resource utilization, and the green reconstruction of production functions and consumer preferences. This highlights the crucial foundational role of the ecological environment in the process of new quality productive forces and socio-economic development.

(1) The greening of economic growth. Traditional economic growth theories assume that natural resources are given and infinitely usable exogenous variables, homogenizing different factors of production and ignoring the inherent characteristics and threshold constraints of natural ecological resources. In fact, natural resources are a necessary component of economic growth; their reserves, economic conversion capacity, consumption rate, and recovery speed all constrain the material production capacity and sustainable duration of socio-economic development. For a long time, the maximum growth of national material wealth was considered the primary goal of human economic activity. However, GDP growth is not equivalent to socio-economic development. Specifically regarding the ecological environment, GDP can neither measure the efficiency of resource allocation nor reflect ecological costs and the level of development of productive forces. Therefore, a developmental mode that blindly pursues GDP growth inevitably leads to high consumption, low efficiency, and environmental degradation, falling into the dilemma of binary opposition between the environment and development. Currently, the developmental philosophy of human society has undergone a gradual deepening process from "growth-ism" to "green development." Especially against the current background of accelerating the transformation of economic developmental modes, it is necessary to rely on green technological innovation to improve resource productivity, reduce environmental burdens, and promote the deep development of the economy in a green, low-carbon, and sustainable direction. As a new state of productive forces in the digital age, new quality productive forces emphasize an ecological "limit to growth." By incorporating ecological factors into endogenous growth models and establishing a high-quality growth paradigm under ecological boundary constraints, environmental quality becomes an endogenous variable driving a virtuous economic cycle. In this process, the exchange of matter and energy in the ecological economy becomes more frequent, and the connection between the economic system and the ecosystem becomes tighter, forming an inseparable whole. Thus, social development does not involve negating economic growth for the sake of environmental protection, but rather achieving the coordination of quantitative expansion and qualitative leaps, incorporating the ecological environment into production and utility functions, and internalizing ecological constraints and incentive mechanisms to achieve intensive and green economic growth.

(2) The qualitative reshaping of the three factors of productive forces. Xi Jinping has pointed out that new quality productive forces are "triggered by revolutionary technological breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading; they take the leap in laborers, means of labor, and objects of labor, and their optimal combination as their basic connotation, and a substantial increase in total factor productivity as their core marker." Based on Marxist productive force theory, new quality productive forces contain a triple meaning: the upgrading of the three factors of productive forces (factor composition), the optimized combination of the three factors (factor configuration), and the leap in the adaptation ratio between the three factors (dynamic mechanism). This reveals a revolutionary reconstruction in the process of the qualitative change of productive forces. Regarding factor composition, the "newness" of new quality productive forces lies in the revolutionary transition of the three factors. Driven by digital technology, new quality laborers possess high levels of digital literacy and rapid knowledge iteration capabilities; new quality means of labor build a "human-machine-object" ternary integrated technological ecosystem; and data, as a new type of production factor, breaks through traditional boundaries of objects of labor, forming a production structure where physical and non-physical factors collaborate. Through non-linear coupling with other factors, they create value increments that transcend material forms. Regarding factor configuration, new quality productive forces are reflected not only in the innovative evolution of factors but also in the optimized reorganization of how factors are combined. They emphasize taking scientific and technological innovation as support and green development as the constraint and guide, achieving a leap from scattered and fragmented to intensive, efficient, and low-carbon modes, manifesting a new state of productive forces that "wins through quality." Regarding the dynamic mechanism, a certain adaptability and proportional relationship exist between the three factors, showing a dynamic evolutionary trend. Empowered by digital twin technology, real-time adaptive factor combination schemes are formed through algorithmic optimization, driving a paradigm shift in traditional production functions. This allows the system of new quality productive forces to build a self-reinforcing growth model, thereby driving the paradigm shift of economic growth from factor-driven to innovation-driven.

(3) The shift toward thrifty and intensive resource utilization.

Resource utilization rate, as a key metric for measuring the potential of the green transformation of development modes, points to the value-conversion capacity of ecological resource endowments that possess economic value under specific spatiotemporal constraints. It reflects both the current level of natural resource usage efficiency and indicates the potential space for improving resource utilization rates in the future. Since the early stages of economic theory, natural resources have been regarded as the foundation of national prosperity and strength. Economists such as William Petty, Adam Smith, Ricardo, and Marshall all argued for the fundamental role of natural resources in economic growth from the perspective of scarcity within free markets. However, traditional economic theory long upheld the assumption of "infinite resources," favoring short-term economic benefits while ignoring ecological carrying thresholds, which induced the double negative externalities of resource overdraft and accumulated pollution.

With the profound transformation of the paradigm of economic and social development, the degree and scale of human intervention in natural ecosystems have grown continuously, making the contradiction between resource supply and demand prominent. Currently, the relative shortage of energy resources and the relatively weak carrying capacity of the eco-environment have become basic national conditions ^[4] of China. This dictates that "comprehensively promoting the economical and intensive use of resources" and "working hard to transform resource utilization methods and improve resource utilization efficiency" are fundamental and overarching tasks in advancing the current construction of ecological civilization. Within this framework, "economical use" emphasizes demand-side management to suppress incremental consumption, while "intensive use" relies on technological progress to enhance the efficiency of existing stock allocation and recycling levels to achieve total volume control.

In recent years, green technologies represented by renewable energy technology, energy storage and conversion, energy saving and efficiency enhancement, digital and intelligent technology, and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) have flourished. These have given birth to new quality productive forces with greening and intelligence at their core, becoming a key force in promoting high-quality development. Their reshaping of resource utilization mechanisms is manifested in three ways: First, the substitution effect, where the development of renewable resources improves substitution efficiency, driving a transition from depletion-based dependence to renewability. Second, the efficiency-enhancing effect, which uses intelligent sensing, precision extraction, and ecological restoration to reduce waste and destruction. Third, circular reshaping, which constructs a circular economy system of "resource-product-waste-reclaimed resource," relying on symbiotic networks and digital twins to enhance material conversion efficiency, thereby reconstructing the resource utilization system and driving the green transformation of development modes.

4. The Green Reconstruction of Production Functions and Consumption Preferences

In the "Introduction" to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx revealed that production and consumption possess a direct identity, constituting a dynamic circular system. However, traditional production functions assume high substitutability of natural resources and onesidedly emphasize "expanding productive consumption" while ignoring sustainability, leading to resource waste, overconsumption, and ecological deterioration. Currently, China's economic development is at a critical stage where the conversion of old kinetic energy into new ^[5] is breaking through and gaining momentum. Technological innovation, industrial optimization, and demand upgrades are objectively catalyzing the gestation and development of new quality productive forces.

From the perspective of new quality productive forces, the green transformation of development modes takes ecological constraints as both premise and goal. It focuses not only on the sustainability of natural resource supply and the stability of ecosystems but also on energy/material consumption and emissions during production and consumption. It incorporates the decarbonization of production and the greening of consumption into the core content and performance indicators of the transformation. By internalizing external costs and optimizing institutional and technological paths, it minimizes the negative impact of economic activities on nature. Specifically, since the development of new quality productive forces takes "green" as its backdrop, it is constantly incubating new technologies, giving birth to new business formats, creating new supply, and forming new demand by reconstructing production functions and consumption preferences.

On the production side, the green and low-carbon transformation is reconstructing traditional production functions characterized by the advantage of low-cost factors, incubating new space for economic growth, providing a new direction for industrial structure upgrading, and serving as an important link in promoting high-quality socioeconomic development. On the consumption side, the awakening of environmental awareness is reshaping the demand structure. Simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon ecological demands are the "true needs" ^[6] that genuinely suit human beings. These are further transformed into the intrinsic drive for new quality productive forces, forcing the production system to evolve toward high-end, green, and intelligent directions, further stimulating the demand for the green upgrading of traditional industries and green consumption, and creating green markets on a large scale.

III. Realistic Challenges in Accelerating the Green Transformation of Development Modes Against the Backdrop of New Quality Productive Forces

The development of new quality productive forces provides an unprecedented window of opportunity for the green transformation of development modes. However, at the current stage, the inertial resistance caused by the "parallel structure" ^[7] of China's civilizational development cannot be underestimated. The green transformation faces many realistic challenges in terms of cognition, industry, talent, and institutions, which profoundly affect and restrict its progress.

(1) The Guidance of Ecological Rationality Needs Further Strengthening

Under the economic operating mechanisms dominated by traditional productive forces, there is a clear tension between economic rationality and ecological rationality. The former takes profit maximization and capital valorization as its guiding principles, viewing nature as a source of growth; the latter emphasizes the harmonious coexistence of man and nature and focuses on sustainable environmental development. Throughout the evolution of modern economic society—from classical economics to neoclassical economics and then to new institutional economics—utility maximization has always held dominance, leading to a growth paradigm centered on material expansion. This has caused not only massive waste of natural resources but also severe ecological environmental problems.

At the same time, the scarcity and public nature of ecological resources mean that individuals can use environmental resources for free, leading to the failure to incorporate the ecological value of environmental resources into the current economic accounting system. Consequently, the ecological use-value of environmental resources cannot be reflected in the form of price, resulting in the long-term low-cost or even zero-cost use of environmental resources. The development of new quality productive forces breaks through existing development modes to establish a new type of production mode where economic rationality and ecological rationality are inherently unified. Its purpose is not "protection during growth," but rather making economic rationality subordinate to ecological rationality, advocating that ecological protection takes precedence over economic growth.

However, at the practical level, the deep integration of the two still faces many challenges. The guiding role of ecological rationality needs further strengthening. First, market prices struggle to fully reveal ecological value; the failure of price signals leads to over-exploitation and inefficient use of resources. Second, the current system of economic indicators fails to fully account for ecological costs and the price of environmental destruction, leaving the trade-off between growth and protection without a scientific quantitative basis. Third, continuous resource over-use in turn compresses the space for sustainable growth and weakens the foundation of ecological rationality. Fourth, relevant institutions and governance mechanisms are constrained by costs, further exacerbating the opposition between the two and highlighting the practical dilemma where ecological and economic rationalities have not yet achieved effective unity.

(2) The Adjustment and Optimization of Industrial Structure Cannot Be Completed Quickly

As a high-level form of the leap in productive forces, new quality productive forces represent the direction and inevitable trend of development for a long time to come. Their coupling and synergy with the greening of industrial structures have become key drivers for high-quality development. Although China's green industrial transformation has achieved significant results, deep-level changes remain subject to multiple structural constraints.

First, historical inertia and path dependency are prominent. This is manifested in the fact that it takes time for green technologies and products to capture the market, while the exit of backward technologies and products from traditional industries is a gradual process. Meanwhile, existing production networks and supply chains exhibit inertial resistance to disruptive innovation. Strategic emerging industries have low concentration and obvious homogeneous competition, and the coexistence of traditional and emerging, and old and new technologies makes the progress of economic structural adjustment slow.

Second, industrial synergy is insufficient, and industrial chains are incomplete. Upstream and downstream links are loose, and the flow of factors is not smooth. In fields like new energy and new materials, the phenomenon of "strong materials but weak recycling" is common, and a complete industrial chain has not yet formed. Cross-regional synergy is lacking, and the fragmentation of resource allocation exists alongside redundant construction, which to some extent weakens the positive externalities of industrial clustering. The conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements is low, and the integration of the industrial chain with the innovation chain is insufficient, making it difficult to form a virtuous interaction mechanism of technological leadership and industrial support.

Third, external uncertainty is rising. The global division of labor and the new round of industrial revolution are accelerating, impacting traditional industries while providing opportunities for emerging fields. Currently, climate change and resource/environmental constraints place higher demands on green and low-carbon industries. However, external factors such as technological shifts, geopolitical conflicts, and financial volatility have increased the risks of global supply chain disruptions and restricted market access, leading to rising adjustment costs and lengthened cycles.

(3) Insufficient Development and Reserves of Green Technology and Talent

Technological bottlenecks are a constraint that cannot be ignored in China's green transformation. In recent years, China's technological innovation has shown a trend of rapid iteration, and the development of new quality productive forces is forcing green technological revolution. Internationally, however, "technological blockades" and "decoupling and breaking chains" ^[8] in frontier fields such as AI, biotechnology, blockchain, and sustainable energy have intensified the "de-globalization" trend of global technology development, increasing the difficulty of international cooperation. Against the backdrop of radical changes in the global division of labor, social transformation characterized by green, low-carbon, and intelligent features has become a key area for countries seeking new growth points.

By contrast, although China has made breakthroughs in some core links, its overall level still lags behind the international frontier. This is manifested in weak original innovation capabilities, low levels of integration and application, prominent shortcomings in core green technologies, and high external dependency. There is an urgent need to strengthen independent innovation and the supply of original achievements. As the core engine of innovation-driven development and value creation, talent is crucial. Although the number of high-end scientific and technological R&D personnel in China has continued to grow, the intensity of R&D human resource investment remains lower than that of developed economies, and the reserve of high-end talent is insufficient. The main difficulties include the challenge of attracting digital technology talent, low investment in talent funds, and weak innovation incentive mechanisms. Furthermore, there is an urgent demand for compound talent possessing knowledge in both digital technology (e.g., AI, big data, cloud computing) and green fields (e.g., environmental science, energy engineering). Existing education systems lag in updating professional settings, curriculum systems, and teaching modes, with insufficient cross-disciplinary training capacity, which to some extent restricts the breadth and depth of the green transformation.

(4) Misalignment and Lag in the Institutions for Green Transformation

As the green transformation moves into deeper waters, the imbalance between institutional supply and diversified development needs has become increasingly prominent. This is mainly manifested in institutional structural imbalance, time lag, and insufficient policy synergy, which have become key constraints on the efficiency of the green transition.

Structural imbalance is reflected in the misalignment between resource allocation and goal orientation. As emerging industries, green industries face technical uncertainty, high market risk, and long investment return cycles, leading to relatively insufficient resource allocation in green and sustainable fields. The spatial heterogeneity of environmental regulation intensity and economic incentive measures causes factor flows to deviate from ecological rationality.

Time lag is manifested in the disconnect between institutional updates and the development of green technology. New scenarios such as distributed energy management and intelligent environmental monitoring are emerging, but matching laws, regulations, and standards are lagging, leading to regulatory gaps and blurred responsibilities. Issues such as the intervention of digital twins in governance and data flows lack forward-looking regulation.

Insufficient synergy is reflected in the need for better coordination between different institutions. Levels and types of institutions are not clearly demarcated, and the distinction between basic systems, institutional arrangements, and procedural rules is low, weakening institutional integrated innovation. The green policy guarantee system is also redundant in parts, weakening the scale effect of green synergistic innovation. At the same time, green and digital standards and evaluation systems are lagging, lacking effective connection and mutual recognition. As a new factor of production, the systems for data rights, pricing, circulation, and security are incomplete, and poor data sharing makes it difficult to fully tap the value of data, thereby affecting the effectiveness of the green transformation.

(5) The Conceptual Reconstruction of Green Lifestyles Is Not Yet Complete

Under the paradigm of new quality productive forces, the conceptual reconstruction and practical transformation of green lifestyles are essentially a systemic change in the cognitive models and behavioral paradigms of social members. However, as things stand, this transformation still faces many constraints. First, individuals have conceptual misunderstandings and cognitive ambiguities regarding the connotation of green development, making it difficult to correctly handle...

The tension between "accelerated development" and "green development" makes it difficult for green concepts to be internalized as stable consumer preferences and conscious behaviors; consequently, the social atmosphere for green development remains thin. Second, subjects of green development—including enterprises, social organizations, and the public—exhibit a deficiency in fulfilling their primary responsibilities. This is manifested not only in the need for higher levels of participation in green, low-carbon lifestyles but also in the need to enhance the effectiveness of social supervision and public awareness of oversight. Third, there is an insufficient supply of green products in the consumer sector and the market scale remains small, making it difficult to match diversified demands. Meanwhile, the high production costs, long cycles, and high price premiums of green products result in insufficient cognitive willingness and purchasing power among consumers. Fourth, the public generally harbors an instrumental rationality ^[9] bias toward the digital transformation of ecological civilization construction, viewing it merely as technical and networked construction. This neglects the pivotal role of digital technology in cultivating green productive forces, leading to an insufficient depth in the application of systemic tools such as environmental monitoring and carbon footprint tracking, which to some extent weakens the empowering effect of technology on public participation and social synergy.

IV. Practical Paths for Accelerating the Green Transformation of Development Modes under the Background of New Quality Productive Forces

The green transformation of development modes is a systemic project that covers all fields and runs through the entire process. Examined from the perspective of developing new quality productive forces, the practical path for the green transformation of development modes should focus on the aforementioned challenges and the following key dimensions. It is necessary to plan realistic development measures from the height of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, empowering the formation of new quality productive forces and high-quality development through a comprehensive green transformation of development modes.

(1) Accelerating the integrated advancement of education, science and technology, and talent to accumulate green momentum for transformation

The report of the 20th CPC National Congress systematically planned the strategic deployment for the coordinated development of education, technology, and talent. This suggests that to solidify the green foundation for the comprehensive high-quality transformation of economic and social development, one must persist in using systems thinking to coordinate the integrated advancement of deepening green education, green technological innovation, and green talent cultivation. First, construct a multi-level and comprehensive green education system, integrating green development concepts into the education guarantee system. Establish and improve the material environment for green education in universities along with quantifiable, scientific green education supervision and evaluation mechanisms; utilize modern digital technology to build green education management information systems and online platforms to improve the efficiency of green education evaluation. On this basis, optimize the university teaching content system with green concepts, reform existing curriculum systems, add systematic green course clusters, and promote "permeative teaching" ^[10] to continuously improve the green education curriculum system, establish green concepts, and stimulate green value identification. Second, strengthen green technological innovation, "gradually promoting the green transformation of economy and society through green technology updates, and marching toward a modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature." Focus on fields such as intensive and circular resource utilization, low-carbon and zero-carbon industrial process reengineering, ecosystem carbon sequestration and sink enhancement, and negative carbon and greenhouse gas emission reduction; layout a batch of forward-looking, strategic, and disruptive technological breakthrough projects. Improve the green technological innovation system with enterprises as the mainstay, the market as the guide, and deep integration of industry, academia, and research, promoting the integrated development of green technology R&D, transformation, and application. Finally, construct an all-chain, diversified green talent cultivation model. Adhere to demand-orientation and the integration of industry and education, deepen long-term mechanisms for collaborative education among schools, enterprises, and governments, and optimize major settings to fit technological iterations. Improve green talent evaluation and incentive mechanisms to promote the diversified development of talent in green scientific research, governance, and industrial fields, creating an institutional environment that encourages innovation.

(2) Coordinating and comprehensively managing ecosystems to build a green barrier for transformation

The stability and cyclicity of ecosystems—formed by the coupling of natural resources such as mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, forests, and wetlands—constrain the overall capacity and potential space of new quality productive forces. The various natural elements within the ecosystem exhibit close material-energy exchange and functional interdependence; they do not exist in isolation, and each element has its specific position and role. Based on this, a systemic ecological environment governance framework should be constructed to coordinately enhance ecosystem services and comprehensive management, providing a green barrier for the green transformation of development modes. First, proceeding from systems engineering and a holistic perspective, integrally promote the protection and restoration of mountains, smallovers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, sands, and ice ^[11], constructing an all-encompassing "community of life" network. Through major ecological projects, ecological red lines and land-space control, national greening and remediation, soil and water conservation, returning farmland to forest and grassland, and "rest and recuperation" ^[12] measures, improve green infrastructure and enhance landscape connectivity and synergistic functions. Second, persist in prioritizing protection while emphasizing digital-intelligent empowerment to reshape the digital paradigm of ecological governance. Relying on the real-time sharing nature of digital technology, improve natural resource inventories and dynamic monitoring, continuously increase the total supply of information, promote the intellectualization and data sharing of ecological governance, and strengthen refined controls such as monitoring, carbon footprints, and early warning, thereby driving ecological environment governance toward "intelligent governance." Third, establish dynamic assessment and adaptive management feedback mechanisms. Relying on the Internet, remote sensing, and artificial intelligence, build ecological monitoring networks to regularly assess biodiversity, system health, and service functions, forming data lists to provide support for management decisions. Further, based on assessment results, identify risk thresholds and improve feedback loops to achieve continuous optimization and precise regulation of strategies.

(3) Optimizing industrial structure and cultivating the guiding function of green market demand for green transformation

Under the development paradigm of new quality productive forces, digital technology, as a new kinetic energy and key production factor driving industrial digital transformation, is promoting sustainable economic and social development through the intelligent "monetization" of data and information resources, driving a systemic and all-encompassing profound change in development modes. First, conforming to the requirements of the era of digital civilization, build secure and trustworthy digital infrastructure and accelerate the development of the modern industrial system toward intelligence and greening. Establish and improve a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system, and continue to promote the quality and efficiency of new ecological and environmental protection industries, thereby achieving the optimized allocation and digital value-added of natural resources. Second, vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries, and continuously increase the proportion of green and low-carbon industries in the total economy. Adhere to the orientation of industrial ecologization, center on the path of green economic transformation, accelerate the adjustment and optimization of industrial structures, and strive to achieve the decoupling of economic growth from resource and environmental loads. Cultivate new kinetic energy for green growth, transform traditional industries with green technologies, and enhance endogenous power. Simultaneously, leverage market mechanisms, allowing prices to reflect the scarcity of natural resources, optimize factor allocation, and expand green market space. Third, improve incentive mechanisms and subsidy policies. Refine the fiscal, tax, investment, and price policy systems and market-based mechanisms; strengthen the design of market environments for green certification, green supervision, and green finance to improve the "soft environment" for green development. Through differentiated incentives and project lists, provide policy support for green projects such as energy conservation, carbon reduction, circular utilization, and renewable energy. For example, implement tax and fee preferential measures for enterprises producing green products such as new energy vehicles and photovoltaic equipment to continuously stimulate the vitality of green industrial development.

(4) Deepening green institutional innovation and strengthening institutional guarantees for green transformation

The "Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-path Modernization" ^[13] clearly pointed out the need to "improve systems and mechanisms for developing new quality productive forces according to local conditions," providing a direction for deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system and solidifying the institutional advantages of green development. Although China has initially established a relatively complete system of laws and regulations, gaps remain in the supply of institutional innovation required for green transformation; thus, institutional innovation for green development must be deepened. First, emphasize the guiding position of the green development paradigm within the policy system. Integrate green development concepts throughout the entire process of formulating and implementing economic, social, environmental, and technological policies, constructing a systemic, coordinated, and diverse green development policy system to form a policy network of mutual support and promotion. Second, deepen the reform of the ecological civilization system, improve the system for the development and protection of land and space, advance National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones and Precursor Demonstration Zones, and improve the natural protected area system with national parks as the mainstay. Establish mechanisms for accountability, departmental coordination, and ecological compensation; improve environmental bottom lines and regulatory systems; and strengthen monitoring and early warning for resource and environmental carrying capacity. Furthermore, comprehensively implement the "River Chief" and "Lake Chief" systems ^[14] and promote the establishment of market-based, diversified ecological compensation mechanisms. Third, improve green legal guarantees, revise and perfect ecological laws and normative documents, strengthen preventive systems, and improve laws for the rational utilization of ecological resources and environmental monitoring. Regarding environmental governance, pollution treatment should be driven by strict regulation, with strengthened enforcement and supervision of compensation and restoration, alongside assessments of costs and behaviors to continuously enhance the effectiveness and enforceability of policy tools.

(5) Advocating green consumption and cultivating a green, low-carbon lifestyle

Currently, China is in a critical period of economic and social transformation; resource and environmental constraints are tightening, the green transformation of development modes is urgent, and the people's expectations for a better life are continually rising. In this context, advocating green consumption and cultivating a green, low-carbon lifestyle is an important way to address environmental challenges and achieve green development. First, enhance public awareness of green consumption. Construct a diverse and collaborative publicity and education system to popularize concepts such as green certification, life cycles, and carbon footprints in a systematic and accessible way. Encourage consumers to choose products with environmental certification and advocate for simple, moderate, and recyclable consumption models. Strengthen government guidance, integrating the green ecology into consumption orientations and public service provision. Set up special funds to support projects such as community sharing and the recycling of old items to expand green consumption scenarios and incentivize all sectors of society to participate in green development. Second, promote green products and services. Improve the mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products. Through fiscal subsidies, tax incentives, and green finance, incentivize enterprises to carry out green technological innovation and green supply chains, and improve green certification, labeling, and quality supervision so that green attributes are converted into identifiable market value. Simultaneously, develop the sharing economy and circular economy, expand the supply of high-quality green products, and promote the transformation of "lucid waters and lush mountains" ^[15] into natural capital and productive forces. Finally, systematically promote a green lifestyle. Through policy coordination, promote green technologies and infrastructure that benefit the people, creating a social atmosphere for low-carbon travel, energy conservation, and emission reduction. Build platforms for diverse participation, establish benchmarks and commendation mechanisms, and improve the linkage between behavioral incentives and social credit to encourage green concepts to internalize into lasting habits. This will lay the social foundation for the green transformation of development modes, forming a green consumption pattern characterized by universal participation, government-enterprise synergy, and technological support.

(6) Deeply participating in international green dialogues and enhancing the leading effect of China's green transformation

Against the background of deepening global climate change and the accelerating evolution of China's ecological civilization construction, green, low-carbon, and circular development has become an important direction for the current technological revolution and industrial change. As the world's largest developing country, China must both respond to the challenges of international green trade barriers and break through the inertia of traditional domestic development models. This dual pressure has pushed the green transformation of development modes to the core of national governance modernization. First, construct new mechanisms for multilateral cooperation and continuously enhance China’s voice and influence in the field of ecological environmental governance. Through "Green Belt and Road" cooperation, provide assistance and support in renewable energy and low-carbon transportation to countries along the route, proactively assuming environmental governance responsibilities for more developing countries. Faced with current international green governance features of "fragmented rules and differentiated standards," China should deeply participate in the formulation of international standards and the setting of green agendas. Utilizing platforms such as the UNFCCC, ISO, and G20, promote rule alignment, continuously enhance institutional discourse power, demonstrate the responsibility of a major power, and drive the reform of the global green governance system. Second, innovate green cooperation platforms, optimize the international resource collaboration pattern, and jointly build a community with a shared future for green development. Establish specialized platforms such as sustainable development dialogue mechanisms and green energy transition cooperation forums, and jointly build scientific research bases and international innovation alliances around frontier directions such as CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). Promote international cooperation in green certification and conformity assessment to continuously enhance the competitiveness and international recognition of China's green products in the global market. Third, tell the story of China's ecological and environmental protection well and disseminate green development concepts. Strengthen the international dissemination of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. By hosting international conferences and forums, invite international experts and scholars to discuss green development issues and share successful cases and experiences of China's green transformation. Relying on media and social platforms, translate China's environmental governance experience into methodologies through case sharing and technical alignment, continuously enhancing China's image and influence in global green transformation, and thereby increasing international recognition and support for China's green transformation.

Source: Journal of Harbin Institute of Technology (Social Sciences Edition) Issue 6, 2025 Editor: Huihui