A Good Ecological Environment Is the Most Inclusive Form of People’s Livelihood and Wellbeing

Volume I of *Selected Writings of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization* is permeated throughout with the people’s standpoint of benefiting the people, enriching the people, and serving the people through ecological progress, and vividly displays General Secretary Xi Jinping’s profound and deep feelings for the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out, “A good ecological environment is the most equitable public good and the most inclusive form of people’s livelihood and wellbeing.” This embodies the people-centered value orientation of the Communist Party of China. We must always adhere to putting people first, continuously improve the quality of the ecological environment, provide more high-quality ecological products, and enable the masses to share the beauty of nature, the beauty of life, and the beauty of living amidst lucid waters and lush mountains.

《习近平生态文明文选》第一卷通篇贯穿着生态惠民、生态利民、生态为民的人民立场，生动展现了习近平总书记至深至厚的人民情怀。习近平总书记指出，“良好的生态环境是最公平的公共产品，是最普惠的民生福祉”。这体现了中国共产党以人民为中心的价值取向。必须始终坚持以人为本，持续改善生态环境质量，提供更多优质生态产品，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。

The environment is a matter of people’s livelihood. The ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and development, directly affecting the quality of human existence. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: “For human survival, while gold and silver mountains are certainly important, lucid waters and lush mountains are an important part of the people’s happy life, something that money cannot replace.” Enabling ordinary people to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, eat safe food, and live in a livable environment has become an important part of safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood. At the same time, the ecological environment has a natural public attribute, being shared by all members of society; no individual or organization can, in pursuit of private gain, shift potential environmental risks onto others or society. Protecting the ecological environment helps uphold social fairness and justice, allowing the fruits of ecological civilization construction to benefit all people more and more equitably.

环境就是民生。生态环境是人类生存和发展的根基，直接影响人类生存质量。习近平总书记指出：“对人的生存来说，金山银山固然重要，但绿水青山是人民幸福生活的重要内容，是金钱不能替代的。”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，已成为保障和改善民生的重要内容。同时，生态环境具有天然的公共属性，为所有社会成员共同享有，任何个体或组织都不能为追求私利而将潜在环境风险转嫁给他人或社会。保护生态环境，有助于维护社会公平正义，让生态文明建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。

Entering the New Era, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has transformed into the contradiction between the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. The people’s need for a beautiful ecological environment has become an important aspect of this contradiction, and a good ecological environment is a priority area for improving people’s livelihood and wellbeing. Meeting the people’s expectations for a beautiful ecological environment is a direct response to the issues of greatest concern, most direct interest, and most practical relevance to the masses, and has important practical significance for consolidating the Party’s governing foundation and promoting social harmony and stability.

进入新时代，我国社会主要矛盾已经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。人民群众对优美生态环境的需要已经成为这一矛盾的重要方面，良好生态环境是增进民生福祉的优先领域。满足人民对优美生态环境的期盼，是直接回应群众最关心、最直接、最现实利益问题的体现，对于巩固党的执政基础、促进社会和谐稳定具有重要现实意义。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has adhered to the people-centered development philosophy, resolutely declared war on pollution, focused on solving prominent environmental problems that harm the people’s health, accelerated the improvement of ecological environment quality, and led China’s ecological civilization construction to achieve historic accomplishments. The people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security regarding the ecological environment has significantly improved. In 2024, the average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅) in cities at and above the prefectural level nationwide dropped to 29.3 micrograms per cubic meter; blue skies, white clouds, and twinkling stars have transformed from a “luxury” into a “daily necessity.” The proportion of surface water sections with excellent and good water quality nationwide reached 90.4%, and the living environment has been greatly improved. Large-scale land greening actions and ecosystem restoration projects have been carried out; the national forest coverage rate exceeds 25%. As of the end of 2024, over 48,000 pocket parks [1] and over 128,000 kilometers of greenways had been built. Opening the window to see green, pushing the door to see scenery, and stepping out to see parks have become the standard for a high-quality life. The achievements of ecological civilization construction in the New Era have attracted worldwide attention and are felt most directly and vividly by the masses. The national public satisfaction with the ecological environment has exceeded 90% for four consecutive years, fully demonstrating the people-centered nature and practicality of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央，坚持以人民为中心的发展思想，坚决向污染宣战，重点解决损害群众健康的突出环境问题，加快改善生态环境质量，引领我国生态文明建设取得历史性成就，人民群众生态环境获得感、幸福感、安全感显著提升。2024年，全国地级及以上城市细颗粒物（PM_2.5）平均浓度降低至29.3微克/立方米，蓝天白云、繁星闪烁从“奢侈品”变成“常用品”。全国地表水优良水质断面比例达到90.4%，人居环境得到极大改善。大规模开展国土绿化行动和生态系统修复工程，全国森林覆盖率超25%，截至2024年底已建设口袋公园超4.8万个，绿道超12.8万公里，开窗见绿、推门见景、出门见园成为高品质生活标配。新时代生态文明建设的成就举世瞩目，人民群众感受得最直接最真切，全国公众生态环境满意度连续4年超90%，充分彰显了习近平生态文明思想的人民性和实践性。

“What the people delight in, delight in; what the people hate, hate.” [2] On the new journey, the people’s expectations for ecological environment quality are higher, and their tolerance for ecological environmental problems is lower; the task of ecological and environmental protection is arduous and long. We must deeply implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, adhere to a people-centered approach, coordinate industrial restructuring, pollution control, ecological protection, and climate change response, better realize a positive interaction between high-level protection and high-quality development, and transform the blueprint for building a Beautiful China into a tangible and perceptible happy reality for all the people. We must continue to fight the battle against pollution deeply and persistently, fully and accurately implement the principles of precise pollution control, scientific pollution control, and law-based pollution control, fight the battles to defend the blue sky, clear water, and clean soil with higher standards, make every effort to solve the prominent ecological and environmental problems around the people, and let the masses truly feel the improvement in quality of life brought about by the improvement of ecological environment quality. We must promote the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, broaden the channels for transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into gold and silver mountains, and achieve the unity of ecological environmental protection and high-quality economic development. We must deepen the reform of the ecological civilization system, rely on the strictest systems and the most rigorous rule of law to protect the ecological environment, and ensure the equitable enjoyment of ecological wellbeing and its intergenerational transmission.

“民之所好好之，民之所恶恶之。”新征程上，人民群众对生态环境质量的期望值更高，对生态环境问题的容忍度更低，生态环境保护任重道远。必须深入贯彻习近平生态文明思想，坚持以人民为中心，统筹产业结构调整、污染治理、生态保护、应对气候变化，更好实现高水平保护与高质量发展的良性互动，将美丽中国建设蓝图转化为全体人民可感可及的幸福实景。持续深入打好污染防治攻坚战，全面准确落实精准治污、科学治污、依法治污方针，以更高标准打好蓝天、碧水、净土保卫战，全力解决老百姓身边的突出生态环境问题，让人民群众实实在在感受到生态环境质量改善带来的生活品质提升。促进经济社会发展全面绿色转型，拓宽绿水青山向金山银山转化的通道，实现生态环境保护和经济高质量发展的统一。深化生态文明体制改革，依靠最严格制度、最严密法治保护生态环境，确保生态福祉的公平享有与代际传承。

The current period is an important period for building a Beautiful China. Promoting the significant improvement of the urban and rural living environment is the ardent expectation of the broad masses of the people. We must strive to build green, low-carbon, and beautiful cities, focusing on solving problems in urban air governance, drinking water source protection, and emerging pollutant control, so that cities are integrated into nature, and residents can see the mountains, view the water, and remember their nostalgia. We must accelerate the construction of beautiful villages, promote the experience of Zhejiang’s “Thousand Village Demonstration, Ten Thousand Village Renovation” project [3] according to local conditions, coordinate the promotion of rural ecological revitalization and the improvement of the rural living environment, effectively treat rural domestic sewage, garbage, and black and odorous water bodies, and enable the vast rural areas to once again present a beautiful picture of clear waters and green mountains, blue skies and green earth, beautiful villages and harmonious people.

当前是美丽中国建设的重要时期，推动城乡人居环境明显改善是广大人民群众的殷切期盼。要着力建设绿色低碳的美丽城市，重点解决城市空气治理、饮用水源地保护、新污染物治理等方面问题，让城市融入大自然，让居民望得见山、看得见水、记得住乡愁。加快建设美丽乡村，因地制宜推广浙江“千万工程”经验，统筹推动乡村生态振兴和农村人居环境整治，有效治理农村生活污水、垃圾和黑臭水体，让广大农村再现山清水秀、天蓝地绿、村美人和的美丽画卷。

(The author is Deputy Director of the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization)

（作者系习近平生态文明思想研究中心副主任）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心