The Theoretical Value and Practical Power of the Concept that Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. As an original achievement of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, this important concept profoundly reveals that economic development and ecological environmental protection are dialectically unified, rather than an either-or opposition. It has effectively guided China’s ecological civilization construction to undergo historic, transformative, and overall changes from theory to practice. We must take the in-depth study of the first volume of *Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Ecological Civilization* as an opportunity to trace the developmental footprint of the continuous enrichment and improvement of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, systematically grasp its scientific connotation, deeply appreciate the truth power and practical power of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization in guiding the magnificent blueprint

今年是绿水青山就是金山银山理念提出20年。作为习近平生态文明思想的原创性成果，这一重要理念深刻揭示了经济发展与生态环境保护是辩证统一的，而不是非此即彼的对立关系，有效指引我国生态文明建设从理论到实践都发生了历史性、转折性、全局性变化。我们要以深入学习《习近平生态文明文选》第一卷为契机，追溯绿水青山就是金山银山理念不断丰富完善的发展足迹，系统把握绿水青山就是金山银山理念的科学内涵，深刻感悟习近平生态文明思想指引美丽中国建设展开壮阔图景的真理力量和实践伟力，不断深化对这一重要理念的体系化研究、学理化阐释，进一步增强走出一条人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化道路的信心与决心。

Demonstrating Great Theoretical Value

彰显巨大的理论价值

On August 15, 2005, Comrade Xi Jinping, then Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, inspected Yucun Village in Anji, Zhejiang, and put forward the "Two Mountains" concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to ecological progress. General Secretary Xi Jinping has elaborated on the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets on multiple occasions both domestically and internationally. In 2013, during an important speech at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan, General Secretary Xi Jinping stated: "We want both lucid waters and lush mountains and invaluable assets. We would rather have lucid waters and lush mountains than invaluable assets, and lucid waters and lush mountains are themselves invaluable assets." In 2017, in his report to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping made ensuring harmony between humanity and nature one of the basic strategies for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, emphasizing that "we must establish and act on the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." At the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection in May 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping took "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" as one of the principles that must be adhered to in advancing ecological progress in the New Era. In 2022, in his report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "We must firmly establish and act on the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and plan development from the perspective of harmony between humanity and nature." At the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection in July 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping again emphasized the need to "broaden the pathways for transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into invaluable assets," providing the fundamental guidance for comprehensively advancing the building of a Beautiful China. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets demonstrates great theoretical value.

2005年8月15日，时任浙江省委书记的习近平同志到浙江安吉余村考察，提出“绿水青山就是金山银山”的“两山”理念。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央高度重视生态文明建设。习近平总书记在国内外多个场合阐释绿水青山就是金山银山理念。2013年，习近平总书记在哈萨克斯坦纳扎尔巴耶夫大学发表重要演讲时提出：“我们既要绿水青山，也要金山银山。宁要绿水青山，不要金山银山，而且绿水青山就是金山银山。”2017年，习近平总书记在党的十九大报告中把坚持人与自然和谐共生作为新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的基本方略之一，强调“必须树立和践行绿水青山就是金山银山的理念”。在2018年5月的全国生态环境保护大会上，习近平总书记将“绿水青山就是金山银山”作为新时代推进生态文明建设必须坚持的原则之一。2022年，习近平总书记在党的二十大报告中强调：“必须牢固树立和践行绿水青山就是金山银山的理念，站在人与自然和谐共生的高度谋划发展。”在2023年7月的全国生态环境保护大会上，习近平总书记再次强调要“拓宽绿水青山转化金山银山的路径”，为全面推进美丽中国建设提供了根本遵循。绿水青山就是金山银山理念，彰显了巨大的理论价值。

It profoundly reflects on the ecological crises in the process of human modernization, providing a powerful ideological weapon for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Looking at the world, many developing countries exhibit the characteristic of "compression of time and space" in advancing their modernization. These countries often adopt methods of plundering natural resources for economic construction, compressing the time cycle of their primitive capital accumulation. While this approach can achieve relatively rapid development in a short period, it brings destructive impacts on ecosystems. China has not followed this old path but has opened up a Chinese-path modernization characterized by harmony between humanity and nature. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets deeply integrates the Marxist view of ecology with the rich ecological wisdom and cultural traditions formed in China since ancient times, giving rise to an ecological civilization theory rooted in Chinese soil. It guides us to coordinate the promotion of high-quality economic development with high-level ecological environmental protection, promote spatial balance and temporal sustainability in development, fundamentally change the understanding and practice of economic and social development, and provide a powerful ideological weapon for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.

深刻反思人类现代化进程中的生态危机，为中华民族永续发展提供强大思想武器。纵观世界，不少发展中国家在推进现代化进程中都呈现出“时空压缩”的特征。这些国家往往采用掠夺自然资源的方式进行经济建设，以压缩自身原始资本积累的时间周期。这种方式虽能在较短时间内实现较快发展，但会对生态系统带来破坏性冲击。中国没有沿袭这种老路，而是开辟了一条人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化道路。绿水青山就是金山银山理念将马克思主义生态观与中国自古以来就形成的丰富生态智慧与文化传统深度融合，形成了植根中国大地的生态文明理论，指引我们统筹推进经济高质量发展与生态环境高水平保护，促进发展的空间均衡与时间可持续，从根本上改变了对经济社会发展的认识和实践，为中华民族永续发展提供了强大思想武器。

It breaks the mindset that pits economic development against ecological environmental protection, establishing a development view of harmony between humanity and nature. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets rejects the metaphysical mode of thinking that treats economic development and ecological environmental protection as mutually exclusive, profoundly revealing the dialectical relationship of their inherent unity. This important concept profoundly demonstrates that ecology itself is economy, revealing the inherent unity of the ecological value, economic value, and social value contained in "lucid waters and lush mountains," and making clear that ecological environmental protection and economic development are a symbiotic relationship, two sides of the same coin, and by no means an opposition of either-or. This important concept adheres to prioritizing protection and promoting harmony between humanity and nature, requiring that humanity must respect nature, follow nature's ways, and protect nature, allowing ecological environmental protection to be endogenous to the process of economic growth. This important concept focuses on the sustainable development of future generations, shifting the view of nature from anthropocentrism to the idea that humanity and nature form a community of life. Its essence lies in constructing a long-term mechanism for transforming ecological value into economic value, achieving a virtuous cycle of ecological value enhancement, industrial efficiency improvement, and improvement of people's livelihoods through the systematic linkage of institutional innovation, technological empowerment, and industrial upgrading, thereby promoting common prosperity for all people.

打破了经济发展与生态环境保护相对立的思维定势，确立了人与自然和谐共生的发展观。绿水青山就是金山银山理念摒弃了经济发展与生态环境保护非此即彼的形而上学思维方式，深刻揭示了二者内在统一的辩证关系。这一重要理念深刻表明，生态本身就是经济，揭示了“绿水青山”蕴含的生态价值、经济价值和社会价值的内在统一性，明确生态环境保护与经济发展是共生关系，是一体两面的，绝非非此即彼的对立关系。这一重要理念坚持保护优先、促进人与自然和谐共生，要求人类必须尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然，让生态环境保护内生于经济增长的过程中。这一重要理念着眼于子孙后代的永续发展，在自然观上从人类中心主义转向人与自然是一个生命共同体，其精髓在于构建生态价值向经济价值转化的长效化机制，通过制度创新、科技赋能、产业升级的系统联动，实现生态增值、产业增效、民生改善的良性循环，促进全体人民共同富裕。

It establishes natural capital as a factor of production, innovatively developing Marxist political economy theory. In his work "Protecting the Environment Is Protecting Productive Forces, and Improving the Environment Is Developing Productive Forces," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are not only natural wealth but also social wealth and economic wealth." This represents a revolutionary theoretical breakthrough of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, clearly establishing the status of the ecological environment as a factor of production. Traditional economic theories neglect or underestimate the role of the ecological environment in production, whereas the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets establishes the ecological environment as a fundamental factor of production on par with capital, labor, and technology, profoundly recognizing that the stability of the ecosystem directly affects the sustainability of productive forces. Protecting the ecological environment means protecting natural value and increasing natural capital, which means developing productive forces. This important concept, by incorporating natural resources into the national wealth system, promotes the realization of the value of ecological products, broadens the channels for transforming natural wealth into social wealth, and further develops the Marxist theory of productive forces.

将自然资本确立为生产要素，创新发展了马克思主义政治经济学理论。习近平总书记在《保护生态环境就是保护生产力，改善生态环境就是发展生产力》中指出：“绿水青山既是自然财富，又是社会财富、经济财富。”这是绿水青山就是金山银山理念具有革命性的理论突破，明确生态环境具有生产要素的地位。传统的经济学理论忽视或低估生态环境在生产中的作用，而绿水青山就是金山银山理念把生态环境确立为与资本、劳动力、技术同等重要的基础性生产要素，深刻认识到生态系统的稳定性直接影响着生产力的可持续性，保护生态环境就是保护自然价值和增值自然资本，就是发展生产力。这一重要理念通过将自然资源纳入国民财富体系，推动生态产品价值实现，拓宽了自然财富转化为社会财富的通道，进一步发展了马克思主义生产力理论。

Bringing About Extensive and Profound Changes

带来广泛的深刻变革

The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets has reversed the development mindset of sacrificing the ecological environment for short-term gains, leading to profound changes in China's development model and setting it on a path of high-quality development that prioritizes ecology and is green and low-carbon.

绿水青山就是金山银山理念扭转了以破坏生态环境换取短期增长的发展思路，引领我国发展方式发生深刻变革，走上生态优先、绿色低碳的高质量发展道路。

The quality of China's ecological environment has continuously improved, effectively promoting a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. In his work "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must never seek temporary economic development at the expense of the ecological environment." Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, protecting lucid waters and lush mountains has become an important part of ecological progress and a long-term strategy for achieving high-quality development. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets has taken deeper root in people's hearts, demonstrating powerful practical force. China's ecosystems have been continuously optimized, with improved stability and overall functions. The sky is bluer, the water is greener, and the mountains are more verdant. The people's sense of gain, happiness, and security regarding the ecological environment is more substantial, more guaranteed, and more sustainable. In 2024, 222 cities nationwide met air quality standards, an increase of 19 cities compared to 2023. The average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in cities at the prefectural level and above dropped from 46 micrograms per cubic meter in 2015 to 29.3 micrograms per cubic meter in 2024, with the proportion of days with good air quality reaching 87.2%, making China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality globally. The quality of surface water continued to improve. Among 210 important lakes and reservoirs, the proportion of those with good water quality was 77.1%, up 2.5 percentage points from 2023. The proportion of groundwater monitoring points with water quality at Class I–IV levels was 77.9%. Nationwide, over 100 million mu of land was greened, including 66.69 million mu of afforestation and 48.36 million mu of grassland improvement. The area under sustainable forest management was expanded to over 10 million mu, and forest quality steadily improved. Public satisfaction with the ecological environment reached 91.24%, exceeding 90% for four consecutive years. The green content of high-quality development has increased, bringing tangible and perceptible benefits to the people's well-being.

我国生态环境质量持续改善，有力推动经济社会发展全面绿色转型。习近平总书记在《绿水青山就是金山银山》中指出：“我们绝不能以牺牲生态环境为代价换取经济的一时发展。”党的十八大以来，保护绿水青山成为生态文明建设的重要内容和实现高质量发展的长久之策，绿水青山就是金山银山理念更加深入人心，展现出强大的实践伟力。我国生态系统持续优化，生态系统稳定性和整体功能不断提升，天更蓝、水更绿、山更青，人民群众的生态环境获得感、幸福感、安全感更加充实、更有保障、更可持续。2024年，全国空气质量达标城市共222个，比2023年增加19个城市，地级及以上城市细颗粒物（PM2.5）平均浓度从2015年的46微克/立方米降至2024年的29.3微克/立方米，优良天数比例达到87.2%，成为全球空气质量改善速度最快的国家；地表水环境质量继续改善，210个重要湖库中，水质优良湖库数量占比为77.1%，比2023年上升2.5个百分点，地下水Ⅰ—Ⅳ类水质点位比例为77.9%；全国完成国土绿化任务超1亿亩，包括造林6669万亩、种草改良4836万亩，森林可持续经营实施面积扩大到1000万亩以上，森林质量稳步提升；公众生态环境满意度达到91.24%，连续4年超过90%。高质量发展绿色含量更足，带给人民群众切实可感的民生福祉。

The mutual promotion of ecological industrialization and industrial ecologization drives the construction of a modern economic system. General Secretary Xi Jinping, in "If We Do Not Fail Nature, Nature Will Not Fail Us," points out: "A green ecology is the greatest asset, the greatest advantage, and the greatest brand. It must be protected well, and efforts must be made to manage mountains and waters, reveal mountains and waters, and forge a path where economic development and ecological progress complement and enhance each other." [1]1 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping's article "If We Do Not Fail Nature, Nature Will Not Fail Us" (人不负青山，青山定不负人), originally published in Qiushi journal. By practicing the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, we have, through ecological industrialization, constructed a complete closed loop: from restoring the ecological foundation to manifesting ecological value, to upgrading ecological industries, to integrating and increasing the value of ecological resources, and finally achieving "the economy feeding back into ecology, and ecology promoting the economy." Simultaneously, through industrial ecologization, we use green, low-carbon, and circular technologies to transform and upgrade traditional industries, develop new quality productive forces, and make the economic development process more environmentally friendly and more conducive to resource conservation. The green, low-carbon transformation and upgrading of industries have deepened, and China has successfully embarked on a path of development that is of higher quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure.

生态产业化和产业生态化互促共进，助推建设现代化经济体系。习近平总书记在《人不负青山，青山定不负人》中指出：“绿色生态是最大财富、最大优势、最大品牌，一定要保护好，做好治山理水、显山露水的文章，走出一条经济发展和生态文明水平提高相辅相成、相得益彰的路子。”我们践行绿水青山就是金山银山理念，通过生态产业化，构建了一个从修复生态本底显现生态价值、到生态产业赋能升级、再到生态资源整合增值、最终实现“经济反哺生态、生态促进经济”的完整闭环。同时，通过产业生态化，以绿色、低碳、循环技术改造提升传统产业，发展新质生产力，使经济发展过程对环境更友好，更利于节约资源。产业绿色低碳转型升级持续深化，我国成功迈上更高质量、更有效率、更加公平、更可持续、更为安全的发展之路。

The reform of the systems and mechanisms for ecological progress has continuously deepened, and the modernization level of the ecological environment governance system and governance capacity has steadily improved. General Secretary Xi Jinping, in "Protect the Ecological Environment with the Strictest Systems and the Most Stringent Rule of Law," emphasizes: "Only by implementing the strictest systems and the most stringent rule of law can we provide reliable guarantees for ecological progress." [2]2 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping's article "Protect the Ecological Environment with the Strictest Systems and the Most Stringent Rule of Law" (用最严格制度最严密法治保护生态环境), originally published in Qiushi journal. In "Establish a Strong Awareness of 'Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets,'" he emphasizes: "Establish the 'four beams and eight pillars' of the ecological progress system as soon as possible, and incorporate ecological progress into the orbit of institutionalization and rule of law." [3]3 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping's article "Establish a Strong Awareness of 'Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets'" (树立“绿水青山就是金山银山”的强烈意识), originally published in Qiushi journal. "Four beams and eight pillars" (四梁八柱) is a Chinese architectural metaphor for a comprehensive and robust institutional framework. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has focused on ensuring that the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets takes root. It has strictly used systems to manage power and officials, protect blue skies and increase green spaces, insisted that power must be accompanied by responsibility, responsibility must be shouldered, and dereliction of duty must be investigated, continuously improved a logically rigorous and interlocking institutional chain, and promoted the construction of a systematic and complete institutional system for ecological progress. The ecological and environmental legal system, represented by the Environmental Protection Law, has become more robust, and the legal foundation for ecological environment governance has become more solid. At the same time, institutional innovations such as the river (lake) chief system and the forest chief system have been vigorously promoted, prompting a fundamental shift in ecological environment governance from end-of-pipe treatment to systemic governance. This effectively ensures that the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets is implemented in place, and that the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee on ecological progress are effectively implemented. China's ecological environment governance system and governance capacity are now more compatible with the goals and requirements of comprehensively advancing the construction of a Beautiful China.

生态文明体制机制改革不断深化，生态环境治理体系和治理能力现代化水平持续提升。习近平总书记在《用最严格制度最严密法治保护生态环境》中强调：“只有实行最严格的制度、最严明的法治，才能为生态文明建设提供可靠保障”；在《树立“绿水青山就是金山银山”的强烈意识》中强调：“尽快把生态文明制度的‘四梁八柱’建立起来，把生态文明建设纳入制度化、法治化轨道”。党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央着眼于确保绿水青山就是金山银山理念落地生根，严格用制度管权治吏、护蓝增绿，坚持有权必有责、有责必担当、失责必追究，不断完善逻辑严密、环环相扣的制度链条，推动建设系统完整的生态文明制度体系。以环境保护法为代表的生态环境法律制度更加健全，生态环境治理的法治基石更加坚实，同时大力推进河（湖）长制、林长制等制度创新，促使生态环境治理实现从末端治理向系统治理的根本性转变，切实保证绿水青山就是金山银山理念落实到位，切实保证党中央关于生态文明建设的决策部署落地见效。我国生态环境治理体系和治理能力与全面推进美丽中国建设目标要求更相适应。

Generating Far-Reaching International Influence

产生深远的国际影响

The vivid practice of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets on Chinese soil has fully proven that high-level protection of the ecological environment does not hinder high-quality development; on the contrary, it is an important support for high-quality development. High-quality economic development can only be achieved by relying on high-level protection of the ecological environment. This provides a useful reference for green development for the vast number of developing countries that face strict ecological constraints while having urgent development needs, and contributes Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to global ecological environment governance. In 2016, the United Nations Environment Programme released the report "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets: China's Ecological Civilization Strategy and Action," promoting China's path of ecological civilization. The global influence of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets continues to deepen and expand.

绿水青山就是金山银山理念在中华大地的生动实践充分证明，生态环境高水平保护非但不会阻碍高质量发展，反而是高质量发展的重要支撑，经济高质量发展只有依靠生态环境高水平保护才能实现。这为面临严格生态约束、同时发展要求迫切的广大发展中国家实现绿色发展提供了有益借鉴，为全球生态环境治理贡献了中国智慧和中国方案。2016年，联合国环境规划署发布《绿水青山就是金山银山：中国生态文明战略与行动》报告，宣介中国生态文明之道。绿水青山就是金山银山理念的世界影响持续深化拓展。

Breaking Through the Binary Opposition of Anthropocentrism and Ecocentrism, Guiding the Joint Construction of a Community of Life for Man and Nature. General Secretary Xi Jinping, in "Jointly Pursue the Path of Global Ecological Civilization and Strive to Build a Clean and Beautiful World," points out: "Human beings can use and transform nature, but in the final analysis, they are part of nature. They must care for nature and cannot place themselves above it." [4]4 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping's article "Jointly Pursue the Path of Global Ecological Civilization and Strive to Build a Clean and Beautiful World" (共谋全球生态文明建设之路，努力建设清洁美丽的世界), originally published in Qiushi journal. How to correctly understand and handle the relationship between man and nature concerns the future of humanity and is a development issue that all countries must answer. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets points the way forward for the comprehensive development of the individual and the sustainable development of human civilization. It contains a paradigm shift in the development of civilization from the predatory exploitation of the ecological environment to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, which is of great significance for the progress of human civilization. This important concept breaks through the binary opposition of anthropocentrism and ecocentrism—two opposing ideas that both adhere to the subject-object dichotomy of man and nature in Western ecological philosophy—and reveals the unity of man and nature from the ontological height of philosophy. It helps guide all countries to jointly build a community of life for man and nature. China has initiated the Green Silk Road Envoys Program and the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition. Through green technology cooperation in wind power, geothermal energy, solar energy, and other fields, the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets is being transformed into reality in more countries, making the process of jointly building a community of life for man and nature a process that effectively benefits the people of all countries.

突破人类中心主义与生态中心主义二元对立，指引共同构建人与自然生命共同体。习近平总书记在《共谋全球生态文明建设之路，努力建设清洁美丽的世界》中指出：“人类可以利用自然、改造自然，但归根结底是自然的一部分，必须呵护自然，不能凌驾于自然之上。”如何正确认识和处理人与自然的关系，关乎人类未来，是各国必须解答的发展课题。绿水青山就是金山银山理念指明了人的全面发展与人类文明可持续发展的前进方向，蕴含着文明发展从掠夺式开发生态环境到人与自然和谐共生的范式转换，对于人类文明进步具有重要意义。这一重要理念突破了人类中心主义和生态中心主义这两种相互对立但西方生态哲学都坚持的人与自然主客二分的思想，从哲学本体论的高度揭示了人与自然的统一性，有助于指引各国共同构建人与自然生命共同体。我国发起“一带一路”绿色发展国际联盟，通过开展风电、地热、太阳能等绿色技术合作，使绿水青山就是金山银山理念在更多国家转化为现实，让共同构建人与自然生命共同体的过程成为切实造福各国人民的过程。

Forming Rich and Diverse Practical Innovation Achievements, Contributing Valuable Green Development Experience to the World. Many developing countries still face the dilemma of "protecting the ecology or protecting growth" in their modernization process, lacking practical references for achieving mutually reinforcing and promoting ecological environment protection and economic and social development. Guided by the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, many places in China have carried out practical explorations that are rich in form, diverse in content, based on their own actual conditions, and full of ecological wisdom. For example, some places have achieved green benefits for the people by promoting the assetization of rural ecological resources, the capitalization of ecological assets, the productization of ecological capital, and the marketization of ecological products, fully stimulating the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of villages in striving for common prosperity and building an ecological civilization. Anji County in Zhejiang Province, relying on a county-level bamboo forest carbon sink collection, storage, and trading platform, has transformed green bamboo into quantifiable "carbon assets," creating an ecological common prosperity model of "bamboo turning into banknotes, resources turning into capital." This is one vivid example. These rich and diverse practical innovation achievements not only inject green vitality into local development but also provide other developing countries with a "Chinese sample" for achieving sustainable development based on their own ecological resource endowments and local conditions, offering positive reference significance for their comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.

形成丰富多样的实践创新成果，为世界贡献宝贵的绿色发展经验。许多发展中国家在现代化进程中依然面临着“保生态还是保增长”的两难困境，缺乏实现生态环境保护与经济社会发展相得益彰、相互促进的实践参考。在绿水青山就是金山银山理念指引下，我国许多地方开展了形式丰富、内容多样、立足自身实际、充满生态智慧的实践探索。比如，一些地方通过推动乡村生态资源资产化、生态资产资本化、生态资本产品化、生态产品市场化，实现绿色惠民，充分激发乡村奔向共同富裕、建设生态文明的积极性、主动性、创造性。浙江安吉依托县级竹林碳汇收储交易平台，将翠竹转化为可量化的“碳资产”，开创“竹子变票子、资源变资本”的生态共富模式，就是其中一个生动案例。这些丰富多样的实践创新成果，不仅为当地发展注入绿色活力，也为其他发展中国家提供了基于自身生态资源禀赋、因地制宜实现可持续发展的“中国样本”，对其经济社会发展全面绿色转型具有积极的参考意义。

Leading Human Society from Industrial Civilization to Ecological Civilization, Helping to Create a New Form of Human Civilization. Both history and reality show that the ecological environment is the foundation of the development of human civilization. When the ecology thrives, civilization thrives; when the ecology declines, civilization declines. After entering the era of industrial civilization, humanity not only created enormous material wealth but also caused serious ecological problems. In the last century, some Western countries experienced the "Eight Major Public Nuisance Incidents in the World." [5]5 The "Eight Major Public Nuisance Incidents in the World" (世界八大公害事件) refers to a series of severe environmental pollution disasters that occurred in industrialized countries from the 1930s to the 1960s, including the Meuse Valley fog in Belgium, the Donora smog in the US, the London smog in the UK, and Minamata disease in Japan. If developing countries still follow the old path of industrial civilization towards modernization, it will inevitably be more difficult and they will face more problems. General Secretary Xi Jinping, in "Achieving Sustainable Development Requires Doing a Good Job in Ecological Progress," points out: "If we follow the old path of the United States and Europe in building a modern country, it will not work. Even if there were several more Earths, it would not be enough for the Chinese people to consume." [6]6 This is a quotation from Xi Jinping's article "Achieving Sustainable Development Requires Doing a Good Job in Ecological Progress" (实现永续发展必须抓好生态文明建设), originally published in Qiushi journal. The concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets points the way forward for the development of human civilization. This important concept transcends the Western modernization model of "pollute first, treat later," breaks the myth that "modernization equals Westernization," promotes the construction of a modernization where man and nature coexist harmoniously, creates a new form of human civilization, presents a new picture of modernization, and expands the path choices for developing countries to achieve modernization. Influenced by this important concept, more and more countries and people in the world have come to realize that Western-style modernization is not the only choice for achieving modernization, modernization does not have to come at the expense of the ecological environment, all countries have the right and the ability to find a path of modernization suitable for their national conditions, and all countries have the right and the ability to achieve coordinated development of their own ecological environment and economy and society, making the continuously improving ecological environment an endogenous driving force for economic and social development.

引领人类社会从工业文明走向生态文明，助力创造人类文明新形态。历史和现实都表明，生态环境是人类文明发展的根基。生态兴则文明兴，生态衰则文明衰。人类进入工业文明时代后，既创造出巨大的物质财富，也制造了严重的生态问题，上个世纪一些西方国家就曾发生“世界八大公害事件”。发展中国家如果仍然沿用工业文明的老路走向现代化，必然更加困难，也面临更多问题。习近平总书记在《实现永续发展必须抓好生态文明建设》中指出：“我们建设现代化国家，走美欧老路是走不通的，再有几个地球也不够中国人消耗。”绿水青山就是金山银山理念为人类文明发展指明了前进方向。这一重要理念超越了“先污染后治理”的西方现代化模式，打破了“现代化=西方化”的迷思，推动建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化、创造人类文明新形态，展现出现代化的新图景，拓展了发展中国家走向现代化的路径选择。在这一重要理念影响下，世界上越来越多的国家和人民认识到，西方式现代化并非实现现代化的唯一选择，现代化并非要以牺牲生态环境为代价，各国都有权利也有能力走出一条适合本国国情的现代化之路，都有权利也有能力实现本国生态环境和经济社会协调发展，使不断改善的生态环境成为经济社会发展的内生动力。

(The author is a researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance])

（作者为中央党校（国家行政学院）习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员）

Online Editor: Tongxin

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