Gong Weibin: Deeply Understand the Global Significance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization
The Earth is the shared home of all humanity, and building a green home is the common dream of humankind. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is committed not only to building a Beautiful China, but also to building a clean and beautiful world; it is not only the fundamental adherence and guide to action for China’s ecological civilization construction, but also contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the collective effort of charting a path for global ecological civilization construction. The first volume of the Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization, published in July of this year, systematically reflects the rich connotations, scientific system, and original contributions of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, providing an authoritative textbook for the in-depth study and implementation of this thought. In the article "Pursuing Green Life and Building a Beautiful Home Together," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Faced with ecological and environmental challenges, humanity is a community with a shared future where all prosper or suffer together; no country can remain immune and stand alone." We must deeply study the first volume of the Selected Works, profoundly grasp the original contributions made by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization to global ecological civilization construction, deeply comprehend its world significance, and further enhance our political, ideological, and behavioral consciousness in implementing this thought.
Guiding the Creation of a New Form of Human Civilization
In the article "To Achieve Sustainable Development, We Must Successfully Manage Ecological Civilization Construction," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "In building a modernized country, we cannot follow the old path of the United States and Europe. Even several more Earths would not be enough to sustain the consumption of the Chinese people." Since the 18th century, the modernization path originating in the United States and Europe created unprecedented material wealth, but also produced irreparable ecological wounds. The Western-led industrial civilization relied excessively on resource consumption, triggering risks of resource depletion; massive pollutant emissions led to rapid environmental destruction and serious damage to human health; and the rapid expansion of economic activity severely encroached upon ecological space and damaged ecosystems, causing great suffering to humanity. Without resolving these problems inherent in the "old path of the U.S. and Europe," it is impossible to move beyond traditional industrial civilization and enter a new form of civilization.
In the process of addressing ecological and environmental problems, Western developed countries have manifested a strong technical and instrumental rationality [1], relying more on technical means and market tools to govern environmental pollution and restore the ecological environment. While this has alleviated the tension between humanity and nature to a certain extent, an irreconcilable contradiction has formed within capitalist states between the infinite expansion of capital and limited natural resources. To mitigate domestic pressure for environmental protection, Western developed countries transferred industries and enterprises with high resource consumption and heavy pollution to the vast developing world, engaging in "draining the pond to catch the fish" [2] development and utilization. By shifting the cost of sacrificing the ecological environment to other countries, they failed to find a new path for civilizational development.
In the article "Jointly Building a Community of All Life on Earth," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Ecological civilization is the historical trend of human civilizational development." Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization breaks out of the technical ruts and instrumental rationality of ecological environmental protection, organically combining ecology and civilization to creatively propose the important concept of ecological civilization, guiding human society toward a higher stage of civilizational development. Ecological civilization is a set of values as well as a form of social civilization. it includes the content of material civilization such as the ecological economy, ecological products, and green technology; institutional civilization such as legal systems and policy norms related to ecological civilization; and spiritual civilization such as concepts of ecological environmental protection, environmental equity, and ecological justice. Ecological civilization is a major achievement of human social progress, a product of industrial civilization reaching a certain stage, and an important component of a new form of human civilization. It signifies both a farewell to the old industrial civilization and a comprehensive transcendence of it. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization enriches and develops Marxist thought on the relationship between humanity and nature, promotes and sublimates the ecological wisdom of fine traditional Chinese culture, fundamentally resolves the inherent unsustainability of industrial civilization, and reflects the historical laws and trends of human civilizational development.
In terms of value propositions, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization reflects the transcendence of the logic of capital by the logic of the people. In its development process, capitalism takes the appreciation of capital and maximization of profit as its starting point, premised on the conquest and transformation of nature, and pursues the rapid growth of material civilization one-sidedly, causing an alienation [3] in the relationship between humanity and nature. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization consistently adheres to a people-centered approach, clarifying that a good ecological environment is the most universal benefit to the people's wellbeing. This makes the common needs of the people the important value orientation of social production under the new form of human civilization, truly embodying the principles of ecology benefiting, serving, and being for the people.
In terms of ways of thinking, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization reflects the transcendence of the dualistic binary thinking of Western civilization by the holistic systemic thinking of Chinese civilization. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization carries out the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional Chinese ecological wisdom, such as "the Dao follows nature" [4] and "the unity of heaven and humanity" [5]. It proposes that humanity and nature are a community of life, continuously imbuing the fine traditional Chinese ecological culture with new connotations of the times. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization emphasizes the coordinated and systemic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts [6], transcending the atomized and discrete thinking of Western civilization, and employing systemic thinking to seek a new way of ecological governance from a global perspective. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization opposes luxury, waste, and irrational consumption, yet it does not advocate anti-consumerism; rather, it promotes a simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyle. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China has charted a new path of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature that differs from both ecocentrism and anthropocentrism, providing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions for the development and progress of human civilization.
Resolving the Dilemma Facing Global Sustainable Development
In "Handling Several Major Relationships in Promoting Ecological Civilization Construction," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Handling the relationship between development and protection is a world-class difficulty and an eternal subject facing human social development." Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization breaks the paradox of the opposition between development and protection, providing theoretical guidance for resolving the dilemma facing global sustainable development.
Promoting the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature has become a global consensus. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization creatively proposed the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" [7], clarifying that such natural beauty is not only natural and ecological wealth, but also social and economic wealth. Protecting the ecological environment means protecting natural value and increasing natural capital, which in turn protects the potential and stamina of economic and social development, allowing lucid waters and lush mountains to continuously yield ecological, economic, and social benefits. This important concept means we must view mineral, forest, land, and water resources within the ecological environment not only as important factors of production, but also recognize the multifaceted economic, cultural, and social values inherent in the ecological environment as a whole. By treating the ecological environment as a whole and adhering to a systemic outlook, it is clarified that ecological protection and economic development are not in a contradictory or oppositional relationship, but a dialectically unified one. This internalizes ecological protection within the development of productive forces, innovatively developing Marxist theories of productive forces. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization summarizes and refines China's experience in ecological civilization construction from a methodological height, forming the "lucid waters and lush mountains" concept, which not only effectively guides the comprehensive green transformation of the nation’s economic and social development, but also drives the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature toward becoming a global consensus.
Providing Chinese solutions for global sustainable development. Under the guidance of the "lucid waters and lush mountains" concept, China has accelerated the development of new quality productive forces, promoted a comprehensive green transformation of economy and society, and led the direction of global sustainable development. In "New Quality Productive Forces are Themselves Green Productive Forces," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Green development is the defining feature of high-quality development, and new quality productive forces are themselves green productive forces." China continuously accelerates revolutionary technological breakthroughs, the innovative allocation of factors of production, and deep industrial transformation and upgrading. It improves total factor productivity, accelerates green technological innovation and the application of advanced green technologies, and actively promotes the high-end, intelligent, and green development of industries, creating green industrial, supply, and value chains. Currently, more than half of the world's new energy vehicles (NEVs) are driven on Chinese roads; China has built the world's largest electric vehicle charging network, and its new energy patents account for over 40% of the global total. China assists and supports countries and regions with fragile ecological environments and weak green development capabilities with greater intensity, having carried out green energy project cooperation with over 100 countries and regions. As the world's largest exporter of clean technology, China has created 46% of the world's jobs in the renewable energy sector. The vivid practice of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization provides feasible, ground-level solutions for the green transformation of developing countries and contributes Chinese strength to their achievement of sustainable development.
Providing a brand-new choice for developing countries to achieve modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, we have promoted green development with unprecedented intensity, accelerated ecological civilization construction, and carried out a series of fundamental, pioneering, and long-term tasks. In the process of continuing to write new chapters of the "two miracles" of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, we have achieved a world-renowned miracle of green development. We adhere to protection during development and development during protection, engaging in the holistic planning of national territorial space, strictly implementing usage controls, and scientifically laying out production, living, and ecological spaces. This achieves coordination between economic and social development and population, resources, and the environment, continuously improving resource utilization. The speed of improvement in China’s air and water quality has garnered global attention; China has become one of the countries with the fastest reduction in energy consumption intensity and has built the world's largest carbon market and clean power generation system. China is also the country that has "increased its greenery" the fastest and the most, contributing one-quarter of the world’s new green areas. These massive achievements have laid a solid ecological foundation for high-quality development. They not only fully demonstrate the power of truth and practice inherent in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, but also powerfully prove that modernization does not have to follow the old path of "pollute first, treat later." Ecological protection and economic development can complement and promote each other, and "ecological crises" in the process of modernization can be avoided. The successful practice of China’s ecological civilization construction provides a brand-new choice for developing countries to achieve modernization.
Promoting the Joint Construction of a Community of All Life on Earth
Human society faces the predicament of increasingly strained relations between humanity and nature. The global flow of capital has broken the spatial and temporal boundaries of natural resource exploitation, making ecological environmental issues a common topic for all humanity that transcends national borders and concerns human survival. In the article "Jointly Pursuing a Path for Global Ecological Civilization Construction and Striving to Build a Clean and Beautiful World," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Humanity has only one Earth; protecting the ecological environment and promoting sustainable development is the shared responsibility of all countries." In "Jointly Building a Community of All Life on Earth," General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The international community must strengthen cooperation, think in one direction and move toward one goal, to jointly build a community of all life on Earth." This points the way forward for achieving harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature and jointly building a clean and beautiful world.
The proposition of "jointly building a community of all life on Earth" in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization transcends the geographic boundaries of nation-states. It contains the scientific connotation that all countries should follow the concept of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, respect nature, follow nature's laws, and protect nature. We must jointly protect the irreplaceable home of Earth, jointly heal the numerous scars of the ecological environment, jointly create a harmonious and livable human home, and jointly build the foundation of ecological civilization. This has injected powerful ideological momentum into the promotion of global ecological civilization construction.
General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the joint construction of a community of all life on Earth with an eye toward human sustainable development and the future destiny of the world. This is closely related to the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and has received extensive praise and warm responses from the international community. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Humanity lives in the same global village, in the same time and space where history and reality intersect, increasingly becoming a community with a shared future where we are part of each other." A community with a shared future for humanity is first and foremost a community of life. Jointly building a community of all life on Earth is an important aspect of building a community with a shared future for humanity, while the latter provides the value foundation for the former. In building a community with a shared future for humanity, we can take the collective pursuit of a path for global ecological civilization and the joint construction of a community of all life on Earth as important entry points. This promotes human society’s move from competition toward cooperation, strengthens mutual learning between civilizations in the joint action of global environmental governance and green, low-carbon transformation, and continuously expands the intersection of interests and common ground for all humanity. Promoting the joint construction of a community of all life on Earth is both a great cause benefiting the Chinese nation and an international responsibility and world contribution performed by China for human development and progress. it vividly demonstrates the global vision and concern for the world inherent in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
Facing a series of global ecological and environmental issues—such as climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and intensifying desertification—nations can only effectively resolve the difficult problems of global environmental governance, such as weakening consensus, lack of coordination, and "soft constraints" on governance, by upholding the concepts of co-constructing a community of life on Earth and building a community with a shared future for humanity. Focusing on promoting the co-construction of a community of life on Earth, Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization organically combines global ecological environmental governance with common prosperity and development, sketching out a practical path for countries around the world to join hands in building an ecologically sound Earthly home. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China persists in coordinating the two overall situations [8] of domestic and international affairs, actively participates in global environmental governance, and strengthens international cooperation in areas such as biodiversity conservation, addressing climate change, achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and promoting green development. China has become a resolute man of action and an important contributor to world green development, and has made significant contributions to promoting the co-construction of a community of life on Earth and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. China provides the world with over 80% of its photovoltaic components and 70% of its wind power equipment. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the wind and solar products exported by China reduced carbon emissions for other countries by a cumulative total of approximately 4.1 billion tons, allowing all nations—particularly the vast number of developing countries—to have access to, afford, and effectively utilize clean energy. This holds great significance for the global low-carbon transition. At the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, President Xi Jinping proposed that China is willing to help Africa build a "green growth engine"; the Belt and Road Initiative is increasingly characterized by a "green background"; and China's Juncao [9] technology has become a model for "small yet beautiful" [10] cooperation projects. As a participant, contributor, and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization, China promotes the condensation of international consensus, consolidates the foundation of cooperation, widens the fields of cooperation, and innovates cooperation models. By continuously and synergistically advancing the construction of a Beautiful China and the co-construction of a clean and beautiful world, the power of truth and the practical might of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization are being demonstrated extensively on a global scale.
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization contains a profound concern for the survival and development of all humanity, reflecting a noble state of mind that persists in seeking happiness for the people, rejuvenation for the nation, progress for humanity, and "Great Harmony" [11] for the world. By considering the ecological dilemmas encountered in the developmental process of human civilization through a broad vision that "encompasses the world" [12] and looks toward the future, and by promoting the construction of a global environmental governance system that is fair, rational, and based on win-win cooperation, the profound world significance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization will undoubtedly continue to be enriched, deepened, and expanded in the process of building global ecological civilization.