Promoting New Major Progress in Building a Beautiful China

Building a Beautiful China is an important goal of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. In July this year, the *Beautiful China Construction “15th Five-Year Plan”* was issued, outlining a clear “roadmap” and “construction blueprint” for ecological and environmental protection over the next five years, and delivering a weighty promise of beauty to hundreds of millions of people.

建设美丽中国是全面建设社会主义现代化国家的重要目标。今年7月，《美丽中国建设“十五五”规划》印发，为未来五年生态环境保护描绘了清晰的“路线图”和“施工图”，更向亿万人民交出了一份沉甸甸的美丽承诺。

The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and exerting full force to basically achieve socialist modernization, and also a key stage for building a Beautiful China that builds on the past and opens up the future, expands coverage and improves quality, and achieves a fundamental turnaround in the ecological environment. It is necessary to accurately grasp the new stage and new characteristics of Beautiful China construction during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, and plan and advance ecological and environmental protection work with a higher stance, broader vision, and greater effort.

“十五五”时期是基本实现社会主义现代化夯实基础、全面发力的关键时期，也是美丽中国建设承前启后、扩面提质，实现生态环境根本好转的关键阶段。必须准确把握“十五五”时期美丽中国建设新阶段新特征，以更高站位、更宽视野、更大力度谋划和推进生态环境保护工作。

“Sky, Space, Ground, and Sea”: Weaving This Super Monitoring Network That Can Be Seen and Managed

“天空地海”：织密这张看得见、管得住的超级监测网

Where is Beautiful China beautiful? Monitoring data tells you. In the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” the *Ecological and Environmental Monitoring “15th Five-Year Plan”* jointly issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Development and Reform Commission clearly stated that by 2030, a sky-space-ground-sea integrated ecological and environmental monitoring network will be basically completed, the national monitoring network will achieve systematic operation and digital-intelligent upgrading, and central-local monitoring networks will achieve coordinated layout and interconnection.

美丽中国哪里美，监测数据告诉你。“十五五”开局之年，生态环境部、国家发展改革委联合印发的《生态环境监测“十五五”规划》明确提出，到2030年，基本建成天空地海一体化生态环境监测网络，国家监测网络实现体系化运行和数智化升级，央地监测网络协同布局、互联互通。

What is “sky, space, ground, and sea”? It is an “ecological celestial network” covering the entire national territory: in the sky, satellites with remote sensing overlook the earth—during the planning period, six new ecological and environmental satellites will be launched and put into orbit, promoting the networking of the environment series and carbon (atmosphere) series satellites; in the air, drones conduct cruise inspections; on the ground, automatic monitoring stations transmit data in real time—national monitoring points will expand from the existing 33,000 to more than 50,000, achieving full coverage of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, and green expansion; at sea, buoys and monitoring vessels track marine ecology. This network ensures that the air quality of every city, the water quality changes of every river, and the ecological status of every sea area are all under control.

什么是“天空地海”？它是一张覆盖国土全域的“生态天网”：天上有卫星遥感俯瞰大地——规划期内将新建发射6颗生态环境卫星，推动环境系列、碳（大气）系列卫星组网；空中有无人机巡航巡查；地面有自动监测站点实时回传数据——国家监测点位将从现有的3.3万个扩容至5万余个，实现降碳、减污、扩绿领域全覆盖；海里有浮标和监测船追踪海洋生态。这张网让每一座城市的空气质量、每一条河流的水质变化、每一片海域的生态状况，都尽在掌握之中。

The *Beautiful China Construction “15th Five-Year Plan”* further clarifies the need to strengthen monitoring capacity for solid waste, new pollutants, heavy metals, greenhouse gases, and biodiversity, promote the digital-intelligent transformation of the ecological and environmental monitoring network, and enhance the research, development, and application of new monitoring perception technology and equipment. This means that future ecological and environmental monitoring will not only “see” but also “see clearly” and “see accurately”—new pollutants, microplastics, antibiotics, and other “invisible threats” that were difficult to capture in the past are now being brought into the field of view of this super monitoring network.

《美丽中国建设“十五五”规划》进一步明确，要加强固体废物、新污染物、重金属、温室气体、生物多样性等监测能力建设，推进生态环境监测网络数智化转型，加强新型监测感知技术装备研发应用。这意味着，未来的生态环境监测不仅“看得到”，而且“看得清”“看得准”——新污染物、微塑料、抗生素等过去难以被捕捉的“隐形威胁”，正在被纳入这张超级监测网的视野。

“Digital-intelligence” is the biggest variable in this monitoring revolution. The plan proposes building a “1+7+N” operational mechanism—one national operational control platform, seven basin and regional business platforms, and N stations—to achieve full aggregation and secure sharing of monitoring data. Even more anticipated is the nationwide deployment of about 10 “dark labs” [1]1 “Dark labs” (黑灯实验室) refers to fully automated laboratories that operate without human intervention, often running 24/7 with lights off, relying on robots and AI for sample analysis and data processing., the digital-intelligent transformation of more than 3,000 water and air automatic stations, and the deployment of over 100 business intelligent agents. By 2030, manual involvement in key business areas of the national network will be reduced by 70%, and efficiency will increase more than fivefold. By then, the 72-hour forecast accuracy for PM2.5 exceedance days will reach over 80%, and the domestic production rate of key ecological parameter remote sensing products will reach over 90%—this means monitoring is no longer a “human-sea tactic” but “data-driven, intelligent decision-making.”

“数智化”是这场监测变革的最大变量。规划提出建设“1+7+N”运行机制——1个国家运控平台、7个流域区域业务平台、N个站点，实现监测数据全量归集、安全共享。更令人期待的是，全国将布局约10个“黑灯实验室”，对3000余个水气自动站进行数智化改造，部署百余个业务智能体。到2030年，国家网重点业务领域人工参与度将降低70%，效率提升5倍以上。届时，72小时PM2.5超标天预报准确率将达到80%以上，重要生态参数遥感产品国产化率达90%以上——这意味着，监测不再是“人海战术”，而是“数据驱动、智能决策”。

This profoundly demonstrates that China’s environmental protection is bidding farewell to “human-sea tactics” and “empiricism” and entering a new era of “computing power defining environmental protection.” When satellite networks overlook China, and when “dark labs” replace manual analysis, ecological and environmental supervision finally has “celestial eyes” and “intelligent brains.”

这深刻表明，中国的环保正在告别“人海战术”与“经验主义”，驶入“算力定义环保”的新纪元。当卫星组网俯瞰华夏，当“黑灯实验室”替代人工分析，生态环境监管终于有了“天眼”和“智脑”。

Blue Skies and Clear Waters: From “Indicator Compliance” to “People’s Tangible Feelings”

蓝天碧水：从“指标达标”到“百姓有感”

Monitoring data is abstract, but the people’s sense of gain is concrete. A good ecological environment, as the most inclusive public good for people’s wellbeing, extends its connotation from “blue skies, green land, and clear waters” to new areas concerning the people’s “comfort” and “health value,” such as solid waste and new pollutant treatment, noise control, and ecological security.

监测数据是抽象的，但百姓的获得感是具体的。良好生态环境作为最普惠的民生福祉，其内涵从“天蓝、地绿、水清”进一步延伸到固体废物和新污染物治理、噪声治理、生态安全等关乎群众“舒适度”“健康值”的新领域。

The “15th Five-Year Plan” outline sets hard targets for 2030: the concentration of PM2.5 in cities at the prefecture level and above will drop to below 27 micrograms per cubic meter, the proportion of days with good air quality will reach 85%, the proportion of national surface water with good water quality will reach 85%, and black and odorous water bodies in urban and rural areas will be basically eliminated. Behind these hard thresholds lies the earnest expectation of every ordinary person for “blue skies, white clouds, twinkling stars” and “clear waters, green banks, fish swimming, and birds soaring”—whether the air is good, whether the river water is clear, whether it is noisy at night, and whether the doorstep is clean—these are the standards for testing the quality of work. The ultimate right to judge the improvement of the ecological environment should be given to the people, to their personal feelings. This also reminds us that in the work ahead, we must increase efforts to solve prominent ecological and environmental problems around the people, promote comprehensive improvement of ecological and environmental quality, provide more high-quality ecological products, and let the achievements of Beautiful China construction benefit all people more and more fairly.

“十五五”规划纲要设定了2030年的硬指标：地级及以上城市PM2.5浓度降至27微克/立方米以下，空气质量优良天数比例达到85%，全国地表水优良水体比例达到85%，基本消除城乡黑臭水体。这些硬杠杠背后，是每一个普通人对“蓝天白云、繁星闪烁”“清水绿岸、鱼翔浅底”的殷切期盼——空气好不好、河水清不清、夜里吵不吵、家门口干不干净，这些才是检验工作成色的标准。生态环境改善的最终评判权，应当交给老百姓，交给他们的切身感受。这也提示我们，在接下来的工作中，必须加大力度解决群众身边的突出生态环境问题，推动生态环境质量全面改善，提供更多优质生态产品，让美丽中国建设成果更多更公平惠及全体人民。

In the grand blueprint of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” the battle to defend the blue sky is advancing into the “deep-water zone.” Ultra-low emission transformations in key industries such as cement and coking continue to advance, source substitution and full-process management of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are being fully rolled out, and graded management of atmospheric environmental performance is being deepened. Notably, national air pollution prevention and control has extended from “key regions” to “comprehensive governance”—the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Fenwei Plain remain the main battlefields; strengthened regions such as the middle reaches of the Yangtze River city cluster and the Sichuan-Chongqing region need to achieve reductions higher than the national average; and pioneering regions such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are committed to taking the lead in reaching world-leading levels. This approach of “differentiated policies based on regions, precise pollution control” highlights a profound shift in ecological and environmental governance from extensive to refined.

在“十五五”的宏阔蓝图中，蓝天保卫战正在向“深水区”挺进。水泥、焦化等重点行业超低排放改造持续推进，挥发性有机物（VOCs）源头替代和全流程治理全面铺开，大气环境绩效分级管理不断深化。值得注意的是，国家大气污染防治已从“重点区域”延伸到“全域治理”——京津冀及周边地区、长三角地区和汾渭平原仍是主战场，长江中游城市群、川渝地区等强化区域需实现高于全国平均水平的降幅，粤港澳大湾区等先行区域则致力于率先达到世界领先水平。这种“分区施策、精准治污”的思路，彰显了生态环境治理从粗放型向精细化的深刻转变。

The battle to defend clear waters is also being fought well. The main stream of the Yangtze River basin will stably maintain Class II water quality, the main stream of the Yellow River basin will maintain Class II water quality, and the main stream of the Haihe River basin will basically reach Class II water quality—these targets written in the plan carry the long-term perseverance of countless environmental protection workers. Even more noteworthy is that the focus of governance is shifting from “big rivers” to “around the people”: black and odorous water bodies in counties and townships will be basically eliminated, 80,000 administrative villages will complete environmental remediation, and the rural domestic sewage treatment rate will reach 70%.

碧水保卫战同样打得漂亮。长江流域干流稳定保持II类水质，黄河流域干流保持II类水质，海河流域干流基本达到II类水质——这些写在规划中的目标，承载着无数环保人的多年坚守。更值得关注的是，治理重心正在从“大河大江”向“群众身边”下沉：县乡黑臭水体基本消除，8万个行政村完成环境整治，农村生活污水治理率达到70%。

In the area of marine ecological and environmental protection, a pattern of “one screen, three zones, and one hundred bays” has taken shape: continuously consolidate the coastal ecological security screen, implement comprehensive treatment in key sea areas such as the Bohai Sea, the Yangtze River Estuary-Hangzhou Bay, and the Pearl River Estuary adjacent waters, and strengthen systematic protection, comprehensive treatment, and routine supervision of 283 bays using the bay as the basic unit. From mountain tops to oceans, from sources to estuaries, a protection and treatment network covering entire basins and entire sea areas is accelerating its formation.

在海洋生态环境保护方面，“一屏三区百湾”的格局已经形成：持续筑牢海岸带生态安全屏障，在渤海、长江口-杭州湾、珠江口邻近海域等重点海域接续实施综合治理攻坚，以海湾为基本单元加强283个海湾系统保护、综合治理和常态化监管。从山顶到海洋，从源头到入海口，一张覆盖全流域、全海域的保护治理网络正在加速成型。

Beautiful China: From a Major Country’s Commitment to a Chinese Solution

美丽中国：从大国承诺到中国方案

Building a Beautiful China is a core proposition of Chinese-path modernization, redefining the goals and paths of connotative development under the hard constraints of resource and environmental carrying capacity. Since reform and opening up, China has completed the industrialization process that took developed countries two hundred years in just over forty years, but it has also accumulated a large number of ecological and environmental debts. Unlike the old path of “pollute first, treat later” once taken by some Western countries, China has proactively initiated a comprehensive green transformation of its economy and society, coordinating the advancement of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth. This combination of “active braking” and “changing lanes to overtake” in itself contributes Chinese wisdom and a Chinese solution to global sustainable development.

美丽中国建设是中国式现代化建设的核心命题，是在资源环境承载力的硬约束下，重新定义内涵式发展的目标与路径。改革开放以来，我国用四十多年时间走完了发达国家两百年的工业化历程，但也积累了大量生态环境欠账。与一些西方国家曾走过的“先污染后治理”老路不同，我国主动启动经济社会全面绿色转型，协同推进降碳、减污、扩绿、增长，这种“主动刹车”与“换道超车”的结合，本身就为全球可持续发展贡献了中国智慧和中国方案。

Building a Beautiful China is a systematic project and a livelihood project. The ultimate yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction is not the data from monitoring stations, but the daily experience of every ordinary person. It can be clearly seen that monitoring technology solves the problem of “seeing,” governance actions solve the problem of “managing,” and “people’s tangible feelings” test the problem of “treating well.” These three layers progressively advance, jointly pointing to one ultimate question—what kind of development can truly benefit the people? The answer given by Beautiful China is: blue skies, clear waters, and green land are not only ecological indicators but also the direction of people’s hearts; they are not only a national strategy but also a civilizational consciousness.

美丽中国建设是一项系统工程、民生工程，衡量美丽中国建设成效的最终标尺，不是监测站点的数据，而是每一个普通人的日常体验。可以清晰地看到，监测技术解决的是“看得见”的问题，治理行动解决的是“管得住”的问题，而“百姓有感”检验的则是“治得好”的问题。三者层层递进，共同指向一个终极追问——什么样的发展才能真正造福人民？美丽中国给出的答案是：天蓝、水清、地绿，不仅是生态指标，更是民心所向；不仅是国家战略，更是文明自觉。

(Author Xiong Huanhuan is an associate professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Economics and Management, Nanchang University; Liu Yaobin is the Party Committee Secretary of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics; Zhou Zhengqing is a master's supervisor at the Institute of Area Studies, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics.)

（作者熊欢欢系南昌大学经济管理学院副教授、博士生导师；刘耀彬系江西财经大学党委书记；周正清系江西财经大学区域国别研究院硕士生导师。）