Consolidating the Basic Institutions for Implementing the “Two Mountains” Concept

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the proposition that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.” [1]1 The “Two Mountains” concept (两山理念) refers to the idea that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山), a core principle of Xi Jinping’s ecological thought, emphasizing the integration of ecological protection with economic development. The implementation of the “Two Mountains” concept requires the guarantee of the strictest institutions and the most rigorous rule of law. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC made major deployments for deepening reform of the ecological civilization system, proposing that “we must improve the ecological civilization institutional system” and “accelerate the improvement of the institutional mechanisms for implementing the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” and placing “improving the basic institutions of ecological civilization” in an important position. “If the foundation is not firm, the earth will shake and the mountains will tremble.” [2] To implement the “Two Mountains” concept, it is necessary to consolidate the basic institutions of ecological civilization, which serve as the foundation of the ecological civilization institutional system, so that they can bear the load, ensure stability, and act as a ballast.

今年是“绿水青山就是金山银山”理念提出20周年。“两山”理念的贯彻落实，需要最严格的制度和最严密的法治来保障。党的二十届三中全会就深化生态文明体制改革作出重大部署，提出“必须完善生态文明制度体系”“加快完善落实绿水青山就是金山银山理念的体制机制”，并将“完善生态文明基础体制”放在重要位置。“基础不牢，地动山摇”。落实“两山”理念，必须筑牢作为生态文明制度体系基座的生态文明基础体制，发挥其承重保稳、定盘压舱的作用。

1. Implementing a System of Zoning Control for the Ecological Environment

1.实施生态环境分区管控制度

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Zoning control of the ecological environment plays a foundational role in the source prevention system for the ecological environment. We must strengthen top-level design and improve the institutional system, with the goals of safeguarding ecological functions and improving environmental quality, to promote the realization of differentiated and precise control of the ecological environment by region.” [3] The system of zoning control for the ecological environment is an important component of the ecological civilization institutional system and the spatial governance system for a Beautiful China. Its purpose is to solve problems such as unclear baseline data, unclear targets, extensive management, and passive responses that have existed in past ecological environment governance, to properly handle the relationship between development and protection, and to clarify the bottom line, delineate the boundaries, and point the direction for implementing the “Two Mountains” concept.

习近平总书记指出：“生态环境分区管控在生态环境源头预防体系中具有基础性作用，要加强顶层设计、完善制度体系，以保障生态功能和改善环境质量为目标，推动实现生态环境分区域差异化精准管控。”生态环境分区管控制度是生态文明制度体系和美丽中国空间治理体系的重要组成部分，目的是解决过去生态环境治理中底数不清、靶向不明、粗放管控、被动应对等问题，处理好发展与保护的关系，为贯彻落实“两山”理念明底线、划边框、指方向。

The essence of zoning control for the ecological environment is to strengthen source governance, scientific governance, and precise governance; to strictly adhere to the red line for ecological protection, the baseline for environmental quality, and the upper limit for resource utilization; to scientifically guide various types of development, protection, and construction activities; to boost high-quality economic and social development; and to implement high-level protection of the ecological environment. According to the “Opinions of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening Zoning Control of the Ecological Environment,” China is to basically establish a system of zoning control for the ecological environment this year, initially forming a zoning control system that covers the entire territory and is precise and scientific; by 2035, it is to fully establish a system of zoning control for the ecological environment that is well-developed in institutions, smooth in mechanisms, and efficient in operation, providing strong support for the fundamental improvement of the ecological environment and the basic realization of the Beautiful China goal. To fully implement the system of zoning control for the ecological environment in the New Era, first, it is necessary to formulate a zoning control plan for the ecological environment based on the national main functional area strategy and the requirements of the “National Territorial Space Planning Outline (2021-2035),” [4] with the implementation of the “three lines” [5] as a hard constraint, ecological environment control units as the basis, ecological environment access lists as the means, and information platforms as support; second, it is necessary to strengthen policy coordination and governance coordination for ecological environment protection, fully align with territorial space planning and use regulation, coordinate the promotion of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth in regions and river basins, promote the coordinated linkage of zoning control for the ecological environment with environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permits, environmental monitoring, law enforcement supervision, and other governance links, strive to build a whole-chain ecological environment management system, and promote the formation of policy synergy for building a Beautiful China and a good atmosphere for the participation of the whole society; finally, it is necessary to improve the ecological environment monitoring and evaluation system, incorporate prominent problems existing in the implementation of the zoning control system for the ecological environment into central and provincial-level ecological environment protection inspections, and use the effectiveness of implementation as an important reference for the construction of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” practice innovation bases.

生态环境分区管控的实质是要加强源头治理、科学治理、精准治理，严守生态保护红线、环境质量底线、资源利用上线，科学指导各类开发保护建设活动，助推经济社会高质量发展，实施生态环境高水平保护。根据《中共中央办公厅国务院办公厅关于加强生态环境分区管控的意见》，我国今年要基本建立起生态环境分区管控制度，初步形成全域覆盖、精准科学的分区管控体系；到2035年要全面建立体系健全、机制顺畅、运行高效的生态环境分区管控制度，为生态环境根本好转、美丽中国目标基本实现提供有力支撑。新时代全面实施生态环境分区管控制度，首先要根据国家主体功能区战略和《全国国土空间规划纲要（2021－2035年）》的要求，制定以落实“三线”硬约束为重点，以生态环境管控单元为基础，以生态环境准入清单为手段，以信息平台为支撑的生态环境分区管控方案；其次要强化生态环境保护的政策协同和治理协同，充分衔接国土空间规划和用途管制，统筹推进区域和流域的降碳减污扩绿增长，促进生态环境分区管控与环境影响评价、排污许可、环境监测、执法监管等治理环节的协调联动，努力构建全链条生态环境管理体系，推动形成美丽中国建设的政策合力和全社会共同参与的良好氛围；最后要健全生态环境监测和评价制度，将生态环境分区管控制度落实中存在的突出问题纳入中央和省级生态环境保护督察，将落实的工作成效作为“绿水青山就是金山银山”实践创新基地建设等的重要参考。

2. Improving the Territorial Space Use Regulation System

2.健全国土空间用途管制制度

Territorial space is the carrier of ecological civilization construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out, “Scientifically plan the

国土是生态文明建设的载体。习近平总书记指出，“科学谋划国土空间开发保护格局，建立健全国土空间管控机制”。实现生产空间集约高效、生活空间宜居适度、生态空间山清水秀，形成安全和谐、富有竞争力和可持续发展的国土空间格局，需要不断完善国土空间开发保护制度，建立健全覆盖全域全类型、统一衔接的国土空间用途管制和规划许可制度。党的十八届三中全会对“实施主体功能区制度，建立国土空间开发保护制度”提出了明确要求。2024年实施的《主体功能区优化完善技术指南》指出，发挥主体功能区作为战略融合的纽带作用和空间治理的基础底盘作用，在延续原农产品主产区、重点生态功能区、城市化地区三类主体功能区的基础上，叠加划定能源资源富集区、边境地区、历史文化资源富集区等其他功能区，形成“3+N”的主体功能分区体系。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has continuously advanced the reform of "integrating multiple plans into one," merging spatial plans such as the main functional zone plan, land use plan, and urban-rural plan into a unified territorial space plan, establishing a national unified, clearly defined in rights and responsibilities, scientific and efficient territorial space planning system, and forming a "single blueprint" for the development and protection of national territorial space. At the same time, it has continuously improved the territorial space use control system, based on the territorial space plan, forming three basic models of use control by zone classification: for construction within urban development boundaries, the control method of "detailed planning + planning permission" is implemented; for construction outside the boundaries, zoning is carried out according to the dominant use (mainly agriculture and ecology), with the control methods of "detailed planning + planning permission" and "binding indicators + zoning access"; for nature reserves with national parks as the main body, important sea areas and islands, important water sources, cultural relics, etc., a special protection system is implemented. Currently, China has coordinated the delineation of red lines for the protection of farmland and permanent basic farmland, ecological protection red lines, and urban development boundaries, providing spatial guarantees for the practical implementation of the "Two Mountains" concept in various localities.

党的十八大以来，我国持续推进“多规合一”改革，将主体功能区规划、土地利用规划、城乡规划等空间规划融合为统一的国土空间规划，建立起全国统一、责权清晰、科学高效的国土空间规划体系，形成了全国国土空间开发保护的“一张蓝图”。同时，不断健全国土空间用途管制制度，以国土空间规划为依据，形成三种分区分类的用途管制基本模式：对城镇开发边界内的建设实行“详细规划+规划许可”的管制方式；边界外的建设按照主导用途（主要是农业和生态）分区，实行“详细规划+规划许可”和“约束指标+分区准入”的管制方式；对以国家公园为主体的自然保护地、重要海域和海岛、重要水源地、文物等实行特殊保护制度。目前，我国已统筹划定耕地和永久基本农田保护红线、生态保护红线、城镇开发边界，为各地切实落实“两山”理念提供空间保障。

3. Strengthening the Management of Property Rights over Natural Resource Assets

3.加强自然资源资产产权管理

Natural resources are the naturally occurring materials and energy upon which humanity depends for survival and development. Natural resource assets refer to natural resources that possess scarcity, usefulness, and clearly defined property rights. Property rights are the core and main content of the ownership system, a general term for a series of rights including ownership, usufructuary rights, and creditor's rights; the property rights system is the cornerstone of the socialist market economy system. The property rights system for natural resource assets is the sum of regulations concerning the subject, object, content (rights and obligations), and the acquisition, alteration, and extinction of rights over natural resource assets, playing a fundamental supporting role in perfecting the socialist market economy system, maintaining social fairness and justice, and building a Beautiful China. One of the principles of China's ecological civilization system reform is to adhere to the public nature of natural resource assets, innovate the property rights system, implement ownership, distinguish between the rights of owners of natural resource assets and the powers of managers, rationally divide central and local affairs and regulatory responsibilities, and ensure that all people share the benefits of publicly owned natural resource assets.

自然资源是人类赖以生存和发展的、自然生成的物质与能量。自然资源资产指的是具有稀缺性、有用性及产权明确的自然资源。产权是所有制的核心和主要内容，是所有权、用益物权、债权等一系列权利的总称，产权制度是社会主义市场经济体制的基石。自然资源资产产权制度是关于自然资源资产产权主体、客体、内容（权利义务）和权利取得、变更、消灭等规定的总和，对完善社会主义市场经济体制、维护社会公平正义、建设美丽中国发挥着基础支撑作用。我国生态文明体制改革的原则之一，就是坚持自然资源资产的公有性质，创新产权制度，落实所有权，区分自然资源资产所有者权利和管理者权力，合理划分中央地方事权和监管职责，保障全体人民分享全民所有自然资源资产收益。

In the past, China once experienced problems such as blurred ownership boundaries of natural resource assets and unimplemented rights and interests. The "Overall Plan for the Reform of the Ecological Civilization System" issued in 2015 required "building a property rights system for natural resource assets with clear ownership, clear rights and responsibilities, and effective supervision," committing to promoting the unified confirmation and registration of natural ecological spaces, improving the system of paid use of resources and ecological compensation, and improving territorial space use control. To strengthen the management of natural resource assets, China established the Ministry of Natural Resources, which uniformly exercises the responsibilities of the owner of publicly owned natural resource assets and uniformly exercises the responsibilities for the use control and ecological protection and restoration of all territorial space, gradually forming a management chain for natural resource assets of "who manages—what exists—how much it is worth—how to protect and manage—how to allocate—how to realize benefits—how to supervise—who is responsible," and initially constructing a management system framework for natural resource assets including agency by mandate, inventory and statistics, asset accounting, reserve protection and management, asset allocation, revenue management, assessment and supervision, and asset reporting, continuously establishing and improving the responsibility assessment and supervision system for ecological environmental protection, natural resource protection and utilization, and asset preservation and appreciation, providing solid institutional support for implementing the "Two Mountains" concept.

在过去，我国曾一度存在自然资源资产所有权边界模糊、权益不落实等问题。2015年出台的《生态文明体制改革总体方案》要求，“构建归属清晰、权责明确、监管有效的自然资源资产产权制度”，致力于推进自然生态空间统一进行确权登记、健全资源有偿使用和生态补偿制度、健全国土空间用途管制等。为加强自然资源资产管理，我国组建了自然资源部，统一行使全民所有自然资源资产所有者职责，统一行使所有国土空间用途管制和生态保护修复职责，逐步形成了“由谁管—有什么—值多少—怎么管护—如何配置—收益实现—如何监督—对谁负责”的自然资源资产管理链条，初步构建了委托代理、清查统计、资产核算、储备管护、资产配置、收益管理、考核监督、资产报告等自然资源资产管理制度框架，不断建立健全生态环境保护、自然资源保护利用和资产保值增值等责任考核监督制度，为落实“两山”理念提供了坚实制度支撑。

4. Improving the Coordination Mechanism for National Ecological Security Work

4.完善国家生态安全工作协调机制

Ecological security is an important component of national security, an inevitable requirement for achieving sustainable development, and the safety bottom line for building a beautiful China where humanity and nature coexist in harmony. Article 30 of the *National Security Law of the People’s Republic of China* stipulates: “The state shall improve the system of institutions for ecological and environmental protection, intensify efforts in ecological construction and environmental protection, delimit ecological protection red lines, strengthen early warning and prevention and control of ecological risks, properly handle sudden environmental incidents, ensure that the natural environment and conditions such as the atmosphere, water, and soil on which the people rely for survival and development are not threatened or damaged, and promote the harmonious development of humanity and nature.” Ecological security refers both to the relatively complete, unthreatened ecosystem and its state of existence that a country or region possesses to support survival and development, and to its capacity to address major internal and external ecological problems and risks in order to achieve sustainable development. In a broad sense, ecological security also includes territorial security, resource security, biosafety, environmental security, and others; it serves as the carrier of political security, military security, economic security, cultural security, and social security, and occupies a foundational position within the entire national security system.

生态安全是国家安全的重要组成部分，是实现可持续发展的必然要求，也是建设人与自然和谐共生的美丽中国的安全底线。《中华人民共和国国家安全法》第三十条规定：“国家完善生态环境保护制度体系，加大生态建设和环境保护力度，划定生态保护红线，强化生态风险的预警和防控，妥善处置突发环境事件，保障人民赖以生存发展的大气、水、土壤等自然环境和条件不受威胁和破坏，促进人与自然和谐发展。”生态安全既指一个国家或地区所拥有的支撑生存发展的较为完整、不受威胁的生态系统及其存续的状态，也指其应对内外重大生态问题和生态风险以实现持续发展的能力。广义的生态安全还包括国土安全、资源安全、生物安全、环境安全等，是政治安全、军事安全、经济安全、文化安全和社会安全等的载体，在整个国家安全体系中居于基础性地位。

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to ecological security work, explicitly incorporating ecological security into the national security system, and requiring the construction of a scientific and rational ecological security pattern to consolidate the ecological security barrier. In 2018, at the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed accelerating the establishment and improvement of “an ecological security system focused on the virtuous cycle of ecosystems and the effective prevention and control of environmental risks.” The *Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Advancing the Construction of a Beautiful China* called for “safeguarding national ecological security” and “improving the national ecological security system.” This requires us to implement a holistic approach to national security, improve the coordination mechanism for national ecological security work, and first, strengthen collaboration with fields such as economic security and resource security; second, improve the legal system, strategic system, policy system, and response management system for national ecological security; and third, enhance the capabilities for national ecological security risk assessment and evaluation, monitoring and early warning, emergency response, and disposal. Horizontal coordination and cooperation among multiple departments help form synergy and achieve seamless connections, avoiding attending to one thing while losing sight of another or mutual obstruction, and realizing the modernization of a multi-level, multi-subject ecological security governance system, providing a nationwide, coordinated, three-dimensional, and efficient national ecological security protection system for implementing the “Two Mountains” concept. [1]1 The “Two Mountains” concept (两山理念) refers to the idea that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” (绿水青山就是金山银山), a core principle of Xi Jinping’s ecological thought, emphasizing the integration of ecological protection with economic development.

党的十八大以来，党中央高度重视生态安全工作，明确把生态安全纳入国家安全体系之中，要求构建科学合理的生态安全格局，筑牢生态安全屏障。2018年，习近平总书记在全国生态环境保护大会上提出，加快建立健全“以生态系统良性循环和环境风险有效防控为重点的生态安全体系”。《中共中央国务院关于全面推进美丽中国建设的意见》提出要“维护国家生态安全”“健全国家生态安全体系”。这就要求我们贯彻总体国家安全观，完善国家生态安全工作协调机制，一要加强与经济安全、资源安全等领域协作，二要健全国家生态安全法治体系、战略体系、政策体系、应对管理体系，三要提升国家生态安全风险研判评估、监测预警、应急应对和处置能力。多个部门之间的横向协同配合，有助于形成合力、无缝衔接，避免顾此失彼、相互掣肘，实现多层级、多主体的生态安全治理体系现代化，为落实“两山”理念提供全域联动、立体高效的国家生态安全防护体系。

5. Solidly Advance the Compilation of the Ecological Environment Code

5.扎实推进生态环境法典编纂

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “Law is a crucial instrument of state governance, and the rule of law is an important pillar of the national governance system and governance capacity.” A code is a form of systematic integration of the current legal norms of a particular legal department, regarded as an important symbol of the maturity of a country’s or region’s legal system. Compiling an ecological environment code is an inevitable requirement for comprehensively strengthening the rule of law in ecological civilization construction and legally ensuring the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature; it is a necessary measure for advancing the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity in the field of ecological environment. The compilation of the ecological environment code involves systematically integrating, editing, compiling, revising, and sublimating the existing legal institutions and norms of the ecological environment, confirming the theoretical, institutional, and practical achievements of ecological civilization construction since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in a systematic and codified form, and forming an ecological environment code with Chinese characteristics, reflecting the characteristics of the times, reflecting the will of the people, and being systematic, standardized, and coordinated.

习近平总书记强调，“法律是治国之重器，法治是国家治理体系和治理能力的重要依托”。法典是某一法律部门现行法律规范的系统化集成的一种表现形式，被看作一个国家或地区法律体系成熟化的重要标志。编纂生态环境法典是全面加强生态文明法治建设，依法保障人与自然和谐共生的现代化的必然要求，是推进生态环境领域治理体系和治理能力现代化的必要举措。生态环境法典的编纂，是通过对现行生态环境法律制度规范进行系统整合、编订纂修、集成升华，将党的十八大以来生态文明建设理论、制度、实践成果以体系化、法典化的方式确认下来，形成一部具有中国特色、体现时代特点、反映人民意愿、系统规范协调的生态环境法典。

One of the historical contexts for the compilation of the ecological environment code is that the “Two Mountains” concept has taken deep root in people’s hearts, protecting the ecological environment and forming green, low-carbon production methods and lifestyles have become a consensus across society, and the people have higher expectations for the quality of the ecological environment, hoping to use the strictest institutions and the most rigorous rule of law to protect the ecological environment, promote green development, and safeguard public health and ecological environmental rights and interests. The *Draft Ecological Environment Code of the People’s Republic of China*, currently under deliberation, consists of five parts, including a General Provisions part, a Pollution Prevention and Control part, an Ecological Protection part, a Green and Low-Carbon Development part, and a Legal Liability and Supplementary Provisions part. The fundamental purpose of compiling the ecological environment code is to resolve the issues of fragmentation and atomization in current legislation through systematic integration, to construct a basic ecological environment law that is logically unified, complete in content, clear in rights and responsibilities, and implements the “Two Mountains” concept, leading the system of ecological environment laws and regulations, and providing a solid legal guarantee for comprehensively advancing the construction of a beautiful China.

生态环境法典编纂的一个时代背景就是“两山”理念已经深入人心，保护生态环境、形成绿色低碳生产生活方式已经成为全社会的共识，人民群众对生态环境质量的期望值更高，希望用最严格制度、最严密法治，保护生态环境、推动绿色发展，保障公众健康和生态环境权益。正在审议中的《中华人民共和国生态环境法典（草案）》共有5编，包括总则编、污染防治编、生态保护编、绿色低碳发展编、法律责任和附则编。编纂生态环境法典的根本目的，是通过体系化整合来解决现行立法的分散化和碎片化问题，构建一部逻辑统一、内容完备、权责清晰、贯彻落实“两山”理念的生态环境基本法，统领生态环境法律法规体系，为全面推进美丽中国建设提供坚实的法治保障。

(Author: Lin Zhen, Distinguished Researcher of the Beijing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center, Professor and Dean of the Institute of Ecological Civilization, Beijing Forestry University)

（作者：林震，系北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员，北京林业大学生态文明研究院院长、教授）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧