A Good Ecological Environment Is the Most Universal Public Good for People’s Livelihood

Improving people’s livelihood is the eternal theme of social development and a major issue for Marxism. Building an ecological civilization concerns the well-being of the people and the future of the nation. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has always upheld the original aspiration and founding mission of seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, adhered to the principle that a good ecological environment is the most universal public good for people’s livelihood, and vigorously advanced the building of an ecological civilization. China’s ecological and environmental protection has undergone historic, transformational, and sweeping changes. The skies are bluer, the mountains greener, and the waters clearer across the motherland, and the people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security has become fuller, more assured, and more sustainable.

改善民生是社会发展的永恒主题，也是马克思主义的重大课题。建设生态文明，关系人民福祉，关乎民族未来。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央始终秉持为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴的初心和使命，坚持良好生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉，大力推进生态文明建设，我国生态环境保护发生了历史性、转折性、全局性变化，祖国天更蓝、山更绿、水更清，人民群众获得感、幸福感、安全感更加充实、更有保障、更可持续。

“A good ecological environment is the most universal public good for people’s livelihood” is a major theoretical innovation. This proposition clarifies the relationship between the environment and people’s livelihood as well as the purpose and requirements of China’s ecological civilization construction. It highlights General Secretary Xi Jinping’s deep concern for the people and the distinct character of the people-centered nature of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

“良好生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉”是重大理论创新成果。良好生态环境是最普惠的民生福祉，阐明了环境与民生的关系和我国生态文明建设的宗旨要求，彰显了习近平总书记念兹在兹的人民情怀和习近平生态文明思想人民性的鲜明品格。

It profoundly elucidates the relationship between the environment and people’s livelihood. Marxism holds that human beings live on nature, emphasizing that humans produce, live, and develop through interaction with nature. It recognizes the important role of nature in the production process and foresees humanity’s ecological needs, providing a theoretical foundation for understanding the dialectical relationship between humans and nature. On this basis, General Secretary Xi Jinping has proposed that the ecological environment has no substitute; it is taken for granted when used but difficult to restore once lost. It not only concerns the quality of economic development but also relates to everyone’s quality of life. Developing the economy is for people’s livelihood; protecting the ecological environment is also for people’s livelihood. The environment is people’s livelihood; green mountains are beauty; blue skies are happiness. A good ecological environment is the fairest public product and the most universal public good for people’s livelihood. These important theses clarify the intrinsic consistency and interrelationship between the environment and people’s livelihood, point out the important position of the ecological environment in improving people’s livelihood, deepen and expand the traditional concept of people’s livelihood, revolutionize the understanding of the relationship between the environment and people’s livelihood, and enrich and develop Marxist thought on the relationship between humans and nature.

深刻阐明环境与民生的关系。马克思主义认为人靠自然界生活，强调人类在同自然的互动中生产、生活、发展，承认自然在生产过程中的重要作用，预见性地发现人类的生态需要，为理解人与自然辩证关系提供了理论根基。习近平总书记在此基础上提出，生态环境没有替代品，用之不觉、失之难存，不仅关系经济发展质量，而且攸关每个人的生活品质；发展经济是为了民生，保护生态环境同样也是为了民生；环境就是民生，青山就是美丽，蓝天也是幸福；良好生态环境是最公平的公共产品，是最普惠的民生福祉。这些重要论断阐明了环境与民生的内在一致性和关联性，指明了生态环境在民生改善中的重要地位，深化和拓展了传统民生概念，革新了对环境与民生关系的认识，丰富和发展了马克思主义关于人与自然关系的思想。

It powerfully demonstrates the people-centered nature of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. People-centeredness is the essential attribute of Marxism, and the people’s standpoint is the fundamental position of Marxism. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that the ecological environment is a major political issue concerning the Party’s mission and purpose, and also a major social issue concerning people’s livelihood. It is necessary to provide more high-quality ecological products to continuously meet the people’s growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment. Ecological civilization is a cause that the people jointly participate in, jointly build, and jointly enjoy. These important theses scientifically answer the fundamental questions of who ecological civilization construction is for, who it relies on, and who shares its fruits. They profoundly explain the purpose and requirements of ecological civilization construction, endow the Marxist people’s standpoint with new contemporary connotations, and bring new vitality to China’s excellent traditional ecological culture.

有力彰显习近平生态文明思想的人民性。人民性是马克思主义的本质属性，人民立场是马克思主义的根本立场。习近平总书记强调，生态环境是关系党的使命宗旨的重大政治问题，也是关系民生的重大社会问题；提供更多优质生态产品，不断满足人民群众日益增长的优美生态环境需要；生态文明是人民群众共同参与共同建设共同享有的事业。这些重要论断科学回答了生态文明建设为了谁、依靠谁、成果由谁共享等根本问题，深刻阐明了生态文明建设的宗旨要求，赋予马克思主义人民立场新的时代内涵，让中华优秀传统生态文化呈现新的时代活力。

It innovatively endows Chinese-path modernization with the distinctive feature of promoting harmony between humanity and nature. As China’s principal social contradiction has transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing need for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development, the people’s demand for ecological products such as fresh air, clean water, and a clean environment has become increasingly urgent. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that ecological civilization construction can best bring the people a sense of gain; when the environment improves, the people feel it most deeply. Solving prominent ecological and environmental problems should be made a priority area for people’s livelihood. The people should be enabled to share the beauty of nature, the beauty of life, and the beauty of living amid lucid waters and lush mountains. A “green bank” for sustainable development should be left for future generations. These important theses grasp the people’s aspirations, concentrate the people’s wisdom, and from the perspectives of epistemology, methodology, and practice, demonstrate the people-oriented direction of modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature. They achieve a critical transcendence over Western modernization centered on capital, polarization, and materialistic expansion.

创新赋予中国式现代化促进人与自然和谐共生的鲜明特色。随着我国社会主要矛盾转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾，人民群众对清新空气、清澈水质、清洁环境等生态产品的需求越来越迫切。习近平总书记指出，生态文明建设最能给老百姓带来获得感，环境改善了，老百姓体会也最深；要把解决突出生态环境问题作为民生优先领域；让人民群众在绿水青山中共享自然之美、生命之美、生活之美；为子孙后代留下可持续发展的“绿色银行”。这些重要论断把握人民愿望、集中人民智慧，从认识论、方法论、实践论层面展现了人与自然和谐共生的现代化的人民指向，实现了对西方以资本为中心、两极分化、物质主义膨胀的现代化的批判性超越。

In the New Era, the people’s sense of ecological and environmental gain has significantly improved. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our Party has adhered to the principle of benefiting, serving, and working for the people through ecology. With unprecedented resolve and effort, it has advanced ecological civilization construction, continuously improving the targeted, scientific, and effective nature of ecological and environmental protection work. It has concentrated its forces on tackling prominent ecological and environmental problems around the people, striving to ensure that the people breathe fresh air, drink clean water, eat safe food, and live in a livable environment, truly feeling the tangible ecological and environmental benefits brought by economic development.

新时代人民群众生态环境获得感显著提升。党的十八大以来，我们党坚持生态惠民、生态利民、生态为民，以前所未有的决心和力度推进生态文明建设，不断提高生态环境保护工作的针对性、科学性、有效性，集中力量攻克群众身边的突出生态环境问题，努力做到让老百姓呼吸上新鲜的空气、喝上干净的水、吃上放心的食物、生活在宜居的环境中，切实感受到经济发展带来的实实在在的生态环境效益。

A large number of prominent ecological and environmental problems around the people have been solved. In the New Era, our Party has actively responded to what the people think, hope for, and urgently need. It has vigorously promoted ecological civilization construction, innovatively carried out central ecological and environmental protection inspections [1]1 Central ecological and environmental protection inspections: a system initiated in 2015 in which the central government dispatches inspection teams to provinces and state-owned enterprises to oversee compliance with environmental regulations and investigate violations., deeply implemented the battle against pollution [2]2 The battle against pollution: one of the Three Tough Battles (alongside preventing financial risks and targeted poverty alleviation) announced at the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, focusing on air, water, and soil pollution., dared to tackle “hard bones” and focused on solving “longstanding difficult problems,” and made every effort to resolve prominent ecological and environmental problems around the people. As of June 2024, among the 3,294 tasks specified in the rectification plans of the first round of inspections and their “lookback” reviews, the completion rate reached 98%. Among the 2,164 tasks specified in the rectification plans of the second round of inspections, the completion rate exceeded 79%. The rectification of the third round’s first and second batches of inspections is being steadily advanced. Actively responding to the people’s expectations for a beautiful ecological environment, the inspections have received and transferred over 320,000 petition letters and reports, the vast majority of which have been resolved or partially resolved, pushing forward the solution of a large number of ecological and environmental “people’s livelihood ailments” and “people’s heartaches.”

一大批群众身边突出生态环境问题得到解决。进入新时代，我们党积极回应人民群众所想、所盼、所急，大力推进生态文明建设，创新开展中央生态环境保护督察，深入实施污染防治攻坚战，敢啃“硬骨头”、专攻“老大难”，着力解决群众身边突出的生态环境问题。截至2024年6月，第一轮督察及“回头看”整改方案明确的3294项任务，完成率达98%；第二轮督察整改方案明确的2164项任务，完成率超79%；第三轮第一批、第二批督察整改正在扎实推进中。积极回应人民群众对优美生态环境的期盼，督察共受理转办32万多件信访举报，绝大多数已办结或阶段办结，推动解决了一大批生态环境领域的民生之患、民心之痛。

The supply of high-quality ecological products has continuously increased. Since the New Era, China’s achievements in ecological civilization construction have attracted worldwide attention and have become a prominent symbol of the historic achievements and transformations in the cause of the Party and the state in the New Era. In 2024, the average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in cities at and above the prefectural level nationwide was 29.3 micrograms per cubic meter, and the proportion of days with good air quality reached 87.2%, remaining above 86% for five consecutive years. China has become the country with the fastest improvement in air quality globally. The proportion of surface water sections with good water quality nationwide increased from 64.5% in 2015 to 90.4% in 2024, approaching the average level of developed countries. The main stream of the Yangtze River has maintained Class II water quality for five consecutive years, and the main stream of the Yellow River for three consecutive years. The proportion of coastal waters with good water quality reached 83.7%, and beautiful bays characterized by “clear water, clean beaches, fish and seagulls gathering, and harmony between people and the sea” are constantly emerging. The quality of the soil environment has remained generally stable, and soil pollution risks have been basically controlled.

优质生态产品供给持续增加。新时代以来，我国生态文明建设的成就举世瞩目，成为新时代党和国家事业取得历史性成就、发生历史性变革的显著标志。2024年，全国地级及以上城市细颗粒物（PM2.5）平均浓度为29.3微克/立方米，优良天数比例为87.2%，已连续5年达到了86%以上，我国成为全球大气质量改善速度最快的国家。全国地表水优良断面比例由2015年的64.5%提高到2024年的90.4%，已接近发达国家平均水平。长江干流连续5年、黄河干流连续3年全线水质保持Ⅱ类。近岸海域水质优良比例达到83.7%，“水清滩净、鱼鸥翔集、人海和谐”的美丽海湾不断展现。土壤环境质量总体保持稳定，土壤污染风险得到基本管控。

A good ecological environment has become a growth point for a happy life. Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets [3]3 “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山): a slogan coined by Xi Jinping in 2005 while serving as Party secretary of Zhejiang Province, encapsulating the idea that ecological protection and economic development are not contradictory.. A good ecological environment is not only natural wealth but also economic and social wealth. Since the New Era, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, all regions and departments have vigorously promoted the industrialization of ecology and the ecologization of industry. By providing ecological public-welfare posts, increasing ecological compensation, and developing eco-industry, eco-agriculture, eco-tourism, the under-forest economy, the bio-economy, the ice-and-snow economy, etc., they have strived to explore paths for realizing the value of ecological products, enabling more people to take up “ecological bowls” and eat “ecological rice.” At the same time, China has built the world’s largest carbon market by coverage of greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s largest green credit market, and the second-largest green bond market. It has become the world’s largest exporter of environmental goods. Green has become a new driving force and new engine for achieving high-quality development and new quality productive forces, playing an increasingly important role in common prosperity.

良好生态环境成为幸福生活增长点。绿水青山就是金山银山，良好生态环境不只是自然财富，也是经济财富、社会财富。新时代以来，在习近平生态文明思想指引下，各地区各部门大力推进生态产业化、产业生态化，通过提供生态公益岗、加大生态补偿及发展生态工业、生态农业、生态旅游、林下经济、生物经济、冰雪经济等，着力探索生态产品价值实现路径，更多群众端上了“生态碗”、吃上了“生态饭”。与此同时，中国已建成全球覆盖温室气体排放量最大的碳市场、全球最大的绿色信贷市场和第二大的绿色债券市场，已成为全球第一大环境产品出口国，绿色已经成为实现高质量发展和新质生产力的新动力、新引擎，在共同富裕中的作用越来越强。

Let a good ecological environment continue to add to the well-being of the people. At present, the improvement in the quality of China’s ecological environment is still at a low level. There remains a big gap between the current situation and the people’s expectations for a better life and the goal of building a Beautiful China. On the new journey of the New Era, we must take the improvement of ecological and environmental quality as the core, fully implement the requirements of precise, scientific, and law-based pollution control, continuously raise the level of modernization of ecological and environmental governance, and plan and promote ecological and environmental protection work on the new journey with a higher stance, broader vision, and greater efforts, promoting a transformation from quantitative to qualitative improvement in ecological and environmental quality.

让良好生态环境持续为人民增添福祉。当前，我国生态环境质量的改善还是在一个低水平上的提升，离老百姓对美好生活的期盼、离建设美丽中国的目标还有很大的差距。新时代新征程，我们必须以改善生态环境质量为核心，全面落实精准、科学、依法治污要求，不断提高生态环境治理现代化水平，以更高站位、更宽视野、更大力度来谋划和推进新征程生态环境保护工作，推动生态环境质量改善实现由量变到质变。

Uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership. The people’s aspiration for a better life is the goal of our Party’s struggle. On the new journey, we must thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, uphold and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership over ecological civilization construction, regard the protection of the ecological environment as a political responsibility for fulfilling the Party’s mission and purpose, regard a beautiful ecological environment as a basic public service, regard solving prominent ecological and environmental problems as a priority area for people’s livelihood, and regard resolving contradictions and difficulties as a breakthrough for opening up the situation in ecological and environmental protection work. We must vigorously strengthen ecological and environmental protection, make up for shortcomings in people’s livelihood, and follow the path of benefiting, serving, and working for the people through ecology.

坚持和加强党的全面领导。人民对美好生活的向往是我们党的奋斗目标。新征程上，必须深入贯彻落实习近平生态文明思想，坚持和加强党对生态文明建设的全面领导，把保护生态环境作为践行党的使命宗旨的政治责任，把优美的生态环境作为一项基本公共服务，把解决突出生态环境问题作为民生优先领域，把化解矛盾、破解难题作为打开生态环境保护工作局面的突破口，大力加强生态环境保护，补齐民生短板，走好生态惠民、生态利民、生态为民之路。

Let the achievements of building a Beautiful China benefit all the people more and more fairly. A good ecological environment is the source of people’s happiness and an important connotation of the people’s pursuit of a high-quality life. On the new journey of the New Era, we must adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, actively respond to the people’s new expectations for a high-quality ecological environment, fight the battle against pollution with higher standards, and win the trust of and benefit the people with the actual results of sustained, comprehensive, and fundamental improvement of the ecological environment. We must adhere to reform and innovation, further deepen the reform of the ecological civilization system, tighten and solidify the responsibility for ecological and environmental protection, continuously enhance the level of modernization of ecological and environmental governance, and promote the construction of a Beautiful China to achieve remarkable results.

让美丽中国建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。良好生态环境是人民幸福之源，是人民群众追求高品质生活的重要内涵。新时代新征程上，必须坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，主动顺应人民群众对高品质生态环境的新期待，以更高标准打好污染防治攻坚战，以生态环境持续改善、全面改善和根本好转的实际成效取信于民、造福于民。必须坚持改革创新，进一步深化生态文明体制改革，压紧压实生态环境保护责任，持续提升生态环境治理现代化水平，推动美丽中国建设取得显著成效。

Transform the building of a Beautiful China into the conscious action of all the people. Working for the people and relying on the people are the distinctive feature and the magic weapon for success of our Party. On the new journey of the New Era, we must make good use of the working method of “from the masses, to the masses,” respect the people’s pioneering spirit, accelerate the establishment and improvement of an ecological culture system based on ecological values, deeply carry out the “Beautiful China, I Am an Actor” series of activities, let ecological culture take root in the whole society, let harmony between humanity and nature become a common value of the whole society, and promote the formation of a social atmosphere in which everyone, every matter, every moment, and every place advocates ecological civilization, gathering strength for building a Beautiful China.

把建设美丽中国转化为全体人民的自觉行动。为了人民、依靠人民是我们党的鲜明底色和成功法宝。新时代新征程上，我们要用好“从群众中来、到群众中去”的工作方法，尊重群众首创精神，加快建立健全以生态价值观念为准则的生态文化体系，深入开展“美丽中国，我是行动者”系列活动，让生态文化在全社会扎根，让人与自然和谐共生成为全社会的共同价值观念，推动形成人人、事事、时时、处处崇尚生态文明的社会氛围，为建设美丽中国凝心聚力。

(The author is the Director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Center for Environmental and Economic Policy Research, Ministry of Ecology and Environment.)

（作者系习近平生态文明思想研究中心主任，生态环境部环境与经济政策研究中心党委书记、主任）

Online editor: Huihui.

网络编辑：慧慧