Li Hongwei: Identifying Concepts and Original Contributions of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. The unique ecological outlook contained within Chinese-path modernization lays the evaluative foundation for correctly handling the relationship between humanity and nature. In May 2018, the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection formally proposed Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. This important body of thought contains a series of elements, including landmark concepts and a scientific logic for handling the relationship between humanity and nature. Among these, the landmark concepts serve as the "pedestal"—the foundation and the root—playing a supporting role within the scientific system; the scientific logic serves as the "sinews and bones," playing a connective role. Together, these two constitute the "edifice" of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization provides Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions for global ecological governance and the construction of a clean and beautiful world.
The Rich Connotations of the Landmark Concepts of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization adheres to scientific Marxist theory and inherits the fine traditional Chinese ecological culture. It encompasses a series of landmark concepts such as "socialist ecological civilization," "Beautiful China," "life community," "green development," and "ecological governance," constructing an ecological civilization discourse system for Chinese-path modernization and promoting a "revolution in terminology" [1] within China's ecological civilization discourse.
Socialist ecological civilization. This landmark concept is composed of "socialism" and "ecological civilization." Among them, "socialism" emphasizes the socialist attributes of our country's ecological civilization theory and practice, reflecting the distinct characteristics of adhering to the Marxist ecological outlook as guidance, rooted deeply in fine traditional Chinese ecological culture and the practice of China's ecological civilization construction. "Ecological civilization," meanwhile, contains dimensions of the developmental history of human civilization and ecological environmental protection. From the dimension of the history of human civilization, ecological civilization embodies a historical view that "when ecology flourishes, civilization flourishes; when ecology declines, civilization declines" [2], reflecting the reason for the emergence of a "new form of human civilization" following industrial civilization. From the dimension of ecological environmental protection, ecological civilization is both the theoretical observance for protecting the environment and the vivid practice of correctly handling the relationship between humanity and nature in Chinese-path modernization. Chinese-path modernization emphasizes the harmony between humanity and nature, integrating the construction of ecological civilization into the contemporary process of modernization. The 18th Party Congress proposed "striving toward a new era of socialist ecological civilization"; the 19th Party Congress proposed "firmly establishing a socialist outlook on ecological civilization"; in July 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in his important speech at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection the need to "thoroughly implement the Thought on Socialist Ecological Civilization with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era"... This has formed a series of conceptual expressions represented by socialist ecological civilization. Thus, it can be seen that our country's ecological civilization construction possesses distinct socialist properties and characteristics. It both inherits and develops the basic principles of Marxism regarding the relationship between humanity and nature, and promotes the integration of basic Marxist principles with the practice of China's ecological civilization construction and with fine traditional Chinese ecological culture, forming a discourse system of ecological civilization with the characteristics of the times.
Beautiful China. "Beautiful China" is a concentrated reflection of the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization regarding the harmony between humanity and nature; it is the concrete expression of the developmental goals of Chinese-path modernization at the level of ecological civilization construction. "Beautiful China" contains three attributes of the complex environment-economy-society system: "outer beauty, inner elegance, and excellent temperament." Among these, "outer beauty" (wàiměi) primarily refers to the beauty of the ecological environment—blue skies, green land, and clear water—which is the external hallmark of building a Beautiful China. "Inner elegance" (nèilì) primarily refers to high-quality development, the widespread formation of green and low-carbon modes of production and lifestyle, where new quality productive forces become an important engine of development; this is the internal requirement for building a Beautiful China. "Excellent temperament" (qìzhì jiā) primarily refers to superior institutional mechanisms, emphasizing the modernization of the ecological environmental governance system and capacity; this is the core support for building a Beautiful China. The 19th Party Congress proposed "speeding up the reform of the system for ecological civilization and building a Beautiful China," and the 20th Party Congress proposed "advancing the building of a Beautiful China and persisting in the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts." In January 2024, the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively Advancing the Building of a Beautiful China" was released, clarifying the guiding ideology, targets, tasks, and implementation paths, effectively guiding and promoting the construction of a Beautiful China into a more systematic and institutionalized new stage. This important concept of "Beautiful China" focuses on meeting the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment, laying a solid foundation for promoting the modernization of the ecological environmental governance system and capacity, and achieving modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature.
Life community. The "life community" concept profoundly elucidates from a philosophical height that humanity and nature are an organic whole of mutual dependence and influence. At the ontological level, it breaks the binary opposition between "anthropocentrism" and "nature-centrism" and is a vital component of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. This thought emphasizes that mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands are a life community; that humanity and nature are a life community; and that we should jointly build a community of all life on Earth. It focuses on grasping the integrity, systematicity, and internal laws of ecosystems to promote the co-existence, co-presence, and co-prosperity of humanity and nature. These concepts innovate and deepen people's understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature from an ontological level, possessing significant theoretical and practical value. Promoting the integrated protection and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, and cherishing the life community of humanity and nature and the community of life on Earth, is not only an inevitable requirement of human society reaching the stage of ecological civilization but also the key to achieving the sustainable development of humanity.
Green development. Green development runs through the entire process of coordinated economic, social, and environmental development. It is the key support and inevitable choice for realizing harmony between humanity and nature. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed the New Development Philosophy, in which the concept of green development is a vital component. The 19th Party Congress emphasized: "establishing and improving an economic system for green, low-carbon, and circular development," "building a market-oriented green technology innovation system," and "advocating a simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyle." The report to the 20th Party Congress used a dedicated chapter titled "Promoting Green Development and Harmonious Coexistence between Humanity and Nature" to discuss ecological civilization construction, clarifying the direction, goals, and paths for promoting green, high-quality development. Green development is the key to promoting harmony between humanity and nature and is an inherent requirement for building a modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. Practice has proven that the extensive development mode characterized by high consumption, high emissions, and high pollution is unsustainable. With a view toward the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, we must firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, solidly promote development that prioritizes ecology and is conservation-minded, intensive, green, and low-carbon, and strive to achieve development that is of higher quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure. Green development has expanded our understanding of the concept of development and the developmental path, highlighting the distinctive character of Chinese-path modernization.
Ecological governance. Ecological governance is the critical path for promoting harmony between humanity and nature, an effective measure for practicing the concept of green development, solving ecological environment problems, and achieving sustainable economic and social development. It is a vital part of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed that "to build an ecological civilization, we must establish a systematic and complete institutional system for ecological civilization and use institutions to protect the ecological environment." The 19th Party Congress proposed "building an environmental governance system with the government as the lead, enterprises as the main body, and social organizations and the public as joint participants." The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed that "we must improve the institutional system for ecological civilization, coordinately promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, actively respond to climate change, and accelerate the improvement of systems and mechanisms for implementing the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," and so on. These institutional constructions reflect the three-dimensional "Four Beams and Eight Pillars" [3] framework of our country's ecological civilization system, and demonstrate that the horizon of ecological governance is continuously broadening while its holistic meaning is gradually being strengthened. Regarding the global ecological governance system, the 19th Party Congress explicitly proposed the important concept of "global ecological civilization construction," emphasizing "guiding international cooperation on climate change and becoming an important participant, contributor, and leader in global ecological civilization construction." Facing major changes unseen in a century, China actively promotes global climate governance and biodiversity protection, playing an important leading and driving role in global ecological governance.
Original Contributions of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has achieved a discourse revolution and theoretical innovation at the ontological, axiological, and methodological levels. It transcends the limitations of Western ecological discourse systems, such as "subject-object dichotomy" and "instrumental rationality," creating a brand-new paradigm for expressing the relationship between humanity and nature.
Ontological Reconstruction: "Harmonious Coexistence" Transcends "Subject-Object Dichotomy." Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has achieved a revolutionary breakthrough at the ontological level. This important thought abandons the "subject-object dichotomy" tradition in Western ecological discourse, understands the relationship between humanity and nature as a dialectically unified whole, and establishes the ontological cognition of a "life community of humanity and nature." On the basis of inheriting and developing Marxist ecological civilization theory, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization proposes that "humanity and nature are a life community," "mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands are a life community," and "the Earth is a life community," profoundly elucidating the symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature. Nature is the foundation for human survival and development; without the natural elements provided by the natural world to satisfy basic survival needs, humanity could not survive. The concept of a life community expands the connotation of the Marxist view of nature, implying that "if humanity treats nature well, nature will provide gifts to humanity"; if humanity does not respect the objective laws of the natural world, nature will take its revenge on humanity. From the perspective of the necessity of laws, the life community concept emphasizes that only by respecting nature can the development of human society be realized. From the perspective of ecological ethics, the life community concept emphasizes humanity's moral responsibility toward the natural environment, enriching and developing the Marxist view of ecological ethics. Within this, the "community of life on Earth" emphasizes that ecological environment problems cannot be solved by any one country alone; only through the collaboration of all nations can biodiversity be effectively protected. Jointly building a community of life on Earth highlights the vital characteristics of nature, seeks paths to solve global ecological environment problems in the form of "commonality," and promotes the formation of a basic consensus on ecological environmental protection in the international community. The life community concept adheres to an organic, holistic view of nature, emphasizing that a good natural environment is the basic condition for human survival and that humanity and nature are in a relationship of mutual influence and mutual restraint. It transcends the "subject-object dichotomy" way of thinking in Western ecological discourse and opens up a new realm for the Marxist view of nature from an ontological level.
Axiological Innovation: Being People-Centered Transcends Being Capital-Centered. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization attaches great importance to the foundational role of harmony between humanity and nature for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. It links the happiness of the people's lives with the relationship between humanity and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, proposing landmark concepts such as the "socialist outlook on ecological civilization." This transcends the limitations of Western capital logic and instrumental rationality, providing a value orientation for ecological civilization construction and the sustainable development of human society. A good ecological environment possesses the attributes of the "fairest" and "most universally beneficial" public good. The effective supply of universally beneficial public goods must adhere to the Party's overall leadership and focus on equitable supply for all people, so that the achievements of ecological civilization construction benefit the masses to the greatest extent possible, allowing everyone to jointly enjoy fresh air, clean water sources, a pleasant climate, and beautiful ecology—achieving not only "intra-generational" sharing but also "inter-generational" sharing. At the same time, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is based on the mass view of history, emphasizing that ecological civilization is an undertaking in which the masses jointly participate, build, and share. As material living conditions continuously improve, the masses have higher expectations for the quality of the ecological environment. A good ecological environment is increasingly becoming an important part of the people's needs for a better life, providing endogenous power for society-wide action in ecological civilization construction. The masses are the creators of history, and the construction of ecological civilization requires the joint efforts of all people. Action by all the people is an important manifestation of the people being masters of their own affairs in the field of ecological civilization construction and is a significant advantage of our country's ecological civilization construction. Ecological civilization construction with Chinese characteristics differs from the "environmental protection" proposed by capitalist countries; it is an action by all the people with distinct universal benefit and fairness. Promoting the harmony between humanity and nature has become a common value norm and practical observance for the entire society.
Methodological Innovation: Dialectical systemic governance transcends local and fragmentary governance. Methodologically, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization contains dialectical and systemic approaches to ecological governance, such as "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [4] and "integrated protection and systemic governance." It reflects the dialectical relationship between high-level protection and high-quality development, constructing a systematic and complete ecological environmental governance system. This breaks through the limitations of "treating the symptoms but not the disease" [5] found in the ecological governance of Western modernization processes, and initiates a new way of thinking about ecosystem governance. During their modernization processes, some Western countries incorporated natural resources into the scope of productive forces but neglected the close connection between the ecological environment and natural resources. This conceptual bias led capital to focus only on the exploitation and plundering of natural resources, while disregarding changes in the ecological environment that play a foundational role for those very resources. The concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" expands the scope of sustainable economic and social development into the field of the ecological environment, integrating the productive value of the environment into the system of social reproduction. This achieves a state of dynamic and sustainable balance between the means of production and the ecological environment, enriching and developing Marxist productive force theory. It represents a brand-new understanding of the dialectical unity between economic and social development and ecological environmental protection.
The World Significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization creatively proposes a series of identifier concepts with rich connotations and scientific logic, forming a systematic and scientific conceptual framework. From the dimensions of practical innovation, institutional perfection, and conceptual transformation, it provides scientific guidance for promoting global ecological governance and building a beautiful world.
Practical Innovation: Demonstrating the responsibility of a major power in global environmental governance. Currently, global ecological governance lacks sufficient endogenous momentum, ecological deficits have become prominent, and the ecological crisis remains severe. Global environmental issues such as rising temperatures, melting glaciers, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, and loss of biodiversity are increasingly prominent, impacting human production and life. Unlike the "mechanicalism," "technologism," and "transferism" of the West in responding to ecological crises, China proactively assumes the responsibility of a major power. Concepts such as "green development" and "ecological governance" within Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization use dialectical and systemic thinking to innovate traditional modes of ecological governance. They emphasize correctly handling the relationships between economic development and environmental protection, the part and the whole, long-term and short-term goals, and the government and the market. They emphasize the synergistic promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, seeking a dynamic balance among the multiple objectives of "economy-society-environment," and unswervingly following a path of ecological priority and green development. Contrary to the increasing and deteriorating global ecological situation, China's ecological environmental quality has continuously improved while achieving a miracle of rapid economic development. Since the 21st century, China has contributed approximately one-quarter of the world's new green areas. In roughly seven years, it has traversed an air quality governance process that took developed countries over a decade or even decades. China has become the country with the greatest contribution to global ozone layer protection and one of the countries with the fastest reduction in global energy intensity, having built the world's largest clean power generation system, making significant contributions to addressing the global ecological crisis.
Institutional Perfection: Providing a reference for developing countries. More than 100 years ago, as industrial civilization was advancing triumphantly, Marx issued a solemn warning: "Culture, if it develops spontaneously and is not consciously directed... leaves deserts behind it." Facing today's global ecological problems, contemporary Western ecological civilization theories are detached from social systems and modes of production, simply reducing ecological problems to issues of human values and technical production problems. Not only have they failed to find the institutional roots of global environmental governance, but they have also provided theoretical support for developed capitalist countries to plunder natural resources and transfer ecological crises to developing countries, seriously damaging the developmental and ecological rights of the vast number of developing countries. Practice has proven that the ecological governance models advocated by the West have had little effect on solving global ecological problems. The vivid practice of China's ecological civilization construction under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has laid a solid foundation for institutional innovation. Concepts such as "Beautiful China" and "people's well-being" have enriched the strategic goals and value orientation of ecological civilization construction, effectively safeguarding the health of the masses and ecological security. In the New Era, China's ecological civilization construction focuses on transforming practical results into institutional achievements. "Ecological civilization" has been written into the Constitution; multiple systems have been established and implemented, such as the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection and the River and Lake Chief System [6]; and the implementation system for building a Beautiful China is being continuously improved. This promotes regional synergy and the implementation of ecological protection actions in major river basins, key areas, and critical industries. Over the past decade, China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality globally. The concept of "people's well-being"—the idea that the environment is basic welfare—adheres to a people-centered approach and rejects the erroneous Western value of "dealing with ecological issues based on economic returns while ignoring social welfare." Looking across the world, although Western developed countries achieved modernization earlier, the process caused the alienation and deterioration of the relationship between man and nature, triggering a series of social contradictions. The construction of ecological civilization in the New Era, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, regards a good ecological environment as an important component of "people's well-being." It is committed to continuously meeting the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment through institutional construction, promoting the realization of harmony between humanity and nature.
Conceptual Transformation: Enriching the new form of human civilization. Since entering the era of industrial civilization, humanity has created enormous material wealth while simultaneously causing serious ecological problems. The "Eight Great Public Nuisance Events" [7] triggered profound reflections within human society regarding industrial civilization. Throughout the 20th century, the industrially developed countries, accounting for 15% of the world's population, consumed 56% of the world's oil, over 60% of its natural gas, and over 50% of its major mineral resources. Now, with the global population exceeding 8 billion, if the old path of industrial civilization is followed in the process of achieving modernization, then several more Earths would not be enough to sustain the consumption. Where is human civilization headed? The identifier concept of "socialist ecological civilization" in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization provides a clear answer. "Socialist ecological civilization" breaks through the cognitive limitations of Western ecological theories that pit humanity against nature. It elucidates the relationship between the rise and fall of ecology and the succession of civilizations. It adheres to and develops the Marxist view of nature while inheriting and developing the Chinese civilizational ecological concepts of "unity of heaven and humanity" [8] and "the simultaneous nourishment of all things." It regards the Earth as an organic living organism, coordinating the promotion of high-level protection and high-quality development, and leading the green and low-carbon transformation of economic and social development, thus making a significant contribution to the sustainable development of all humanity. The concept of a "community of life for Earth" in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization expands the responsibility for global environmental protection and governance from a single country or region to the whole world and all humanity. With its powerful appeal and cohesion, it has inspired the determination and confidence of people across the globe to work together in global environmental protection. China has united with countries worldwide to achieve significant results in areas such as the Green "Belt and Road" and South-South cooperation on climate change. Important concepts such as "socialist ecological civilization" and the "community of life" promote a global consensus among nations to "jointly build a clean and beautiful world" and work together to advance international environmental cooperation.
The identifier concepts of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization not only demonstrate China's green development philosophy and the value pursuit of ecology for the people, but also provide all-round, multi-level theoretical guidance and practical direction for China's ecological civilization construction and global ecological governance at the ontological, axiological, and methodological levels. Communication power determines influence; the right to speak determines the initiative. Faced with changes unseen in a century [9], the competition between national soft power and ideology is becoming increasingly fierce, and the competition for the international right to speak in the field of the ecological environment cannot be ignored. To win the initiative in this competition, it is urgent to comprehensively enhance the international communication effectiveness of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, demonstrate the immense advantages of Chinese-path modernization and the distinct characteristics of ecological civilization construction in the New Era, and contribute more Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions, and Chinese strength to the advancement of global ecological civilization and human sustainable development.