Xi Jinping Research Center for Eco-Civilization: Further Deepen the Popularized Communication of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization
Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is the concentrated expression of the latest theoretical achievements in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism within the realm of ecological civilization. It serves as a powerful conceptual weapon for advancing the construction of a Beautiful China and realizing a modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature in the New Era, possessing distinct scientific, epochal, advanced, and practical qualities. Advancing the popularized dissemination of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is an essential component of the Party’s propaganda and ideological work, as well as a core element of the cause of environmental protection. It plays a critical role in holding high the banner, guiding direction, boosting morale, cultivating culture and character [1], consolidating consensus, and projecting a positive image. Only through the continuous and in-depth popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization can we better utilize this innovative theory to arm the entire Party, educate the people, and guide practice. This will, in turn, transform it into a formidable material force for understanding and transforming the world, injecting surging momentum into the construction of a Beautiful China where humanity and nature coexist in harmony.
I. Popularizing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a vital measure for comprehensively advancing the construction of a Beautiful China.
Ideology is the precursor to action, and theory is the guide for practice. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization serves as the "ballast stone" [2], compass, and "golden key" for comprehensively advancing the construction of a Beautiful China. Further deepening the work of popular dissemination to ensure this Thought sinks deeper into the hearts of the people holds significant practical importance for driving forward all aspects of ecological civilization construction.
It facilitates an accurate understanding of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization across the whole of society. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a major theoretical innovation that refines and sublimes the practical achievements and precious experiences of the Party in leading ecological civilization construction. It constitutes an epistemology, axiology, and methodology regarding ecological construction; it is a scientific system characterized by systematic integrity, rigorous logic, rich connotations, and profound depth. Effectively carrying out the popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and popularizing innovative theories by disseminating abstract concepts in an easy-to-understand manner will help the whole of society correctly grasp the core tenets, rich connotations, spiritual essence, and practical requirements of the Thought. This will enhance ecological awareness across society and stimulate the endogenous drive for the collective protection of the ecological environment.
It facilitates the firm establishment of a socialist outlook on ecological civilization across the whole of society. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "For a country or a nation to move forward with one heart and one mind, it must be supported by common ideals and convictions." In the report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "the construction of ecological civilization is a cause that will benefit this generation and many more to come. We must firmly establish a socialist outlook on ecological civilization and promote the formation of a new pattern of modernization featuring the harmonious development of humanity and nature." The cultivation of ecological values is an inherent requirement for practicing the Core Socialist Values and an important task in advancing ecological civilization. By promoting the popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, continuously promoting mainstream ecological values, and advocating for green values that respect and care for nature, we can guide the whole of society to establish emotional, value-based, and behavioral identification with ecological civilization. This will awaken the public's confidence and self-awareness in an ecological culture that strives for goodness, forming a positive social trend of revering ecological civilization and building a broad social consensus for a Beautiful China.
It facilitates the enhancement of the entire population’s conscious action in environmental protection and ecological construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "Ecological civilization is a cause to be participated in, built, and shared by the masses. We must transform the construction of a Beautiful China into the conscious action of all the people." Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization emphasizes that everyone is a protector, builder, and beneficiary of the ecological environment; no one is a mere bystander, outsider, or critic. This provides a profound answer to the question of the subjects of action in ecological construction and their respective rights and responsibilities. By popularizing the Thought and conducting various forms of public education—such as establishing "National Ecology Day" [3], building "carbon inclusion" [4] platforms, and creating scenarios conducive to public participation—we can guide the whole of society to practice simple, moderate, green, low-carbon, civilized, and healthy lifestyles and consumption patterns. This will reduce energy consumption and pollution emissions through practical actions, achieving the transition from "ideological consciousness" to "action consciousness" and forming a powerful synergy for building a Beautiful China.
II. Grasping the "Four Persistences" to better construct a system for the popularized dissemination of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
The popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is a long-term, systematic project involving the ideological work of the masses and social mobilization. It involves various subjects including the government, enterprises, social organizations, and individuals, and spans from establishing ecological concepts to practicing green production and lifestyles. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen a systems perspective, accurately grasp the essential requirements of dissemination, and accelerate the construction of a more systematic and efficient popularization system to provide strong support for the exposition and spread of the Thought.
First, persist in holding high the ideological banner to fully elucidate the power of truth and practice inherent in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, historic, transitional, and holistic changes have occurred in ecological construction from theory to practice, and significant strides have been made in building a Beautiful China. On the new journey of advancing a Beautiful China, higher requirements must be met in popularizing the Thought, focusing on its systematic, scientific, ideological, and practical nature. We must accurately grasp the scientific connotations and core tenets, focusing on the "Ten Persistences" [5] of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Combined with the Marxist stance, viewpoints, and methods contained therein, we must clearly explain the fundamental guarantees, historical basis, basic principles, core concepts, objectives, and institutional safeguards of ecological construction in the New Era, fully demonstrating its original theoretical contributions. We must grasp the achievements of the past decade, focusing on the "Four Transformations" [6]. Using data, facts, and cases, we must clarify the historic changes in environmental protection, promoting local success stories and typical cases of green development. Furthermore, we must serve the "two overall situations" [7] and focus on the "five major relationships" [8] that must be managed on the new journey, clarifying new goals, historical tasks, and strategic deployments to demonstrate the strategic and epochal nature of the Thought.
Second, persist in putting the people first to fully grasp the essential requirements of popularization. The popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization plays a key role in unifying thinking and gathering strength. Its essence is to guide society to fully and accurately master the Thought through extensive propaganda, enhancing the conscious action to participate in ecological construction. To this end, we must take a firm stand with the people and handle several key points: 1) When explaining why we build an ecological civilization, we must start from the fundamental interests of the people, showing that this work addresses the environmental issues and development needs the masses care about most. 2) When explaining how to build it, we must clarify the government's concepts, deployments, blueprints, and institutional mechanisms to enhance social confidence. 3) When explaining who the construction relies on, we must clarify that in addition to the Party’s leadership and government guidance, the participation of the whole of society is required, encouraging green lifestyles and public supervision.
Third, persist in the "Two Combinations" [9] to fully grasp the historical and cultural foundations of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. This Thought is rooted in and sublimes the continuous Chinese civilization. It is a major result of combining the basic tenets of Marxism with the practice of China's ecological construction and with China’s fine traditional ecological culture. The Thought inherits and creatively develops ecological wisdom such as "the unity of humanity and nature" (天人合一), "following nature's way" (道法自然), and "taking with moderation" (取之有度). It integrates the essence of traditional culture into mainstream ecological values. Therefore, we must mine and apply traditional ecological culture, explaining the Thought’s relationship with tradition and its development of the laws governing the harmony between humanity and nature. We must "make the past serve the present," extracting philosophical ideas and humanistic spirit—such as the Confucian and Taoist concepts of "all people are my brothers and all things are my companions" (民胞物与) and "prohibiting harvesting according to the seasons" (以时禁发), as well as the farming culture’s wisdom of "acting in accordance with the season and moderation"—to nurture modern ecological values.
Fourth, persist in following the laws of communication to fully grasp new characteristics and trends in the new stage of development. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to innovate communication methods and discourse so that the Party’s innovative theories can "fly into the homes of ordinary people." In the current deep-water stage of the media convergence era, with the evolution of mobile internet, VR, and AI, the communication landscape and political ecosystem of public opinion have been reshaped. Audiences have diverse perspectives and greater agency. Therefore, we must use the natural advantage of ecological topics being close to the public’s life. We must adhere to "content is king," focusing on key tasks and public concerns to create authoritative, competitive content that masters "information flow" with "value content." We must use a "differentiation" strategy, researching different social strata and cultural levels to provide "precision coverage." We must "stay grounded" (接地气), designing interactive rather than top-down communication carriers to persuade people through sincere dialogue and clear reasoning.
III. Identifying key points of emphasis to further push the popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
The next five years are a critical period for building a Beautiful China. Currently, China’s economic and social development has entered a stage of high-quality development characterized by accelerated green and low-carbon transitions. However, ecological construction is still in a critical period marked by overlapping pressures and "moving forward with a heavy load." The task of environmental protection remains arduous. We must explore the laws of popularization, finding new "grips" (抓手) in narrative systems, methods, and communication carriers to expand the influence and appeal of the Thought.
Accelerate the construction of a narrative system for the popularization of ecological civilization. Centering on theoretical, historical, and practical logic, we must build a discourse framework. Using the service of a Beautiful China as the guide, we should take the theoretical exposition and successful practices of the Thought as core topics. Key issues such as pollution prevention, ecological protection, climate change, and green development should serve as major subjects for popularization. We must focus on telling the "story of ecological civilization," summarizing cases of demonstration zones, beautiful rivers and lakes, and biodiversity protection to vividly present the "ideological power" behind these stories, further promoting the integration and transformation of the theory and practice of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
Vigorously promoting ecological culture and deeply cultivating social customs that revere ecological civilization. This involves actively fostering ecological culture and ecological ethics, including the promotion of ecological values such as "respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature," while opposing ecological destruction. We must strenuously cultivate concepts of green consumption while opposing luxury, waste, and excessive consumption; and advocate for a green outlook on political achievements [10] while opposing the pursuit of quick successes and instant benefits. We must continuously strengthen the ecological awareness, environmental protection awareness, and sense of responsibility across the whole of society to achieve the goals of "fostering virtue and cultivating people" [11] and "cultivating people through culture." This will drive ecological culture to become a shared value system for all of society and enhance the "centripetal force" of ecological civilization construction. We must strengthen and promote cooperation and collaboration across multiple fields to jointly prosper ecological culture. Members of the cultural, fine arts, photography, film, and literary circles should be encouraged to participate across disciplinary boundaries, going deep into practice, deep into life, and deep into the masses [12] to create more cultural and artistic works themed on ecological civilization. These works should integrate ideological depth, artistry, and aesthetic appeal to "establish the heart through literature" [13], guiding the public to protect the ecological environment as they would protect their own eyes, and to treat the ecological environment as they would treat their own lives.
Innovating communication paths and methods to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of ecological civilization education. We must conduct in-depth investigations and research into the characteristics of different groups to formulate differentiated communication and guidance strategies. While utilizing traditional and effective methods, we must actively apply the fruits of the information revolution to construct "concentric circles" [14] online and offline, continuously enhancing the practical results of theoretical dissemination. On one hand, we must continuously improve and utilize existing publicity platforms and carriers. We should make effective use of activities such as World Environment Day (June 5), the opening of environmental protection facilities to the public, the "Beautiful China, I Am a Doer" theme practice activities, and ecological environment volunteer services. These attract more of the public to participate in ecological environment theme activities, allowing them to profoundly comprehend and experience the value and charisma of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization through practice. On the other hand, we must constantly innovate communication methods and carriers. By integrating theorists of ecological civilization with technical experts and employing personalized production, visual presentation, and interactive communication, we can continuously launch exquisite works of theoretical dissemination that are both attractive and persuasive. We should integrate theoretical backbones with "mass celebrities" [15] to further shift the center of gravity of theoretical dissemination downward. By using the immediate experiences, ordinary people, and "small principles" [16] found among the masses, we can effectively narrate the "big logic," "grand sentiments," and "great principles" of pursuing a beautiful ecological environment and participating in the construction of ecological civilization.
Conducting in-depth research on the dissemination of ecological civilization thought and strengthening technical support. We must persist in strengthening the academic articulation of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, intensifying research in areas such as philosophical foundations, the writing of theoretical readers, and the compilation of authoritative textbooks, thereby providing authoritative resource support for the popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. We should strengthen research into the laws governing the popularization of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, including theoretical refinement, logical construction, and communication mechanisms and methods. Evaluations of the effectiveness of popular communication should be conducted at appropriate times to identify the overall perception of the audience regarding Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the factors influencing it, providing strong support for improving the efficiency of popular dissemination.
(Authors: Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization; Writers: Guo Hongyan, Wang Xuan)