MEP announced the theme for this year’s World Environment Day on Apr. 27 as “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets”, with an aim to mobilize all walks of life to firmly establish the awareness that “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets”, to respect, comply with, and protect the nature, to voluntarily adopt a green lifestyle, and to work together to build China into a beautiful country.

The scientific viewpoint of considering lucid waters and lush mountains as invaluable assets was expressed by Comrade Xi Jinping, the then Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang provincial committee, during his inspection tour to Yucun Village, Anji County of Zhejiang in August 2005. The argument has revealed the essential relation between the economic growth and environmental protection, updated the conventional considerations of natural resources as invaluable assets, shaken off the idea of putting the economic growth at the opposing side of the environmental protection, and specifies a methodology for achieving the coherence, mutual complementation and synergy of the two sides. The argument enables us to be deeply aware that the ecological conservation is a process of preserving the natural value and pursuing the value-added of the natural capitals, and protecting the environment is a process of sustaining the economic and social development potentials. So long as we turn the ecological and environmental edges into the advantages for economic and social development, the lucid waters and lush mountains will bring us inexhaustible, invaluable assets.

According to an official with MEP, since the 18th National Congress of the CPC was held, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to promoting ecological progress and protecting the environment, incorporated the ecological progress into the overall plan for promoting the economic, political, social, cultural, and ecological progresses, and put forward the innovation-driven, coordinated, green, opening, and sharing-oriented development ideas. The environment protection law has been amended, and the action plans for combating the air, water, and soil pollution have been put in place. Efforts have been made to advance the systematic reform and innovation of the environmental protection schemes and mechanisms, carry on the activities launched in the first year to commence the enforcement of the environment protection law, and take a tough stance in environmental enforcement. With all those effective efforts, the ecological environment quality has been on steady improvement. However, China’s ecological progress and environmental protection efforts are generally behind the economic and social development, some local areas still highly value the economic development and make light of environmental protection, and there is a large gap between the current ecological environment quality and the people’s expectations.

The environment constitutes part of the people’s living conditions, and green mountains and blue skies are also elements of happiness. In order to achieve a better environment and strengthen the weak point of ecological and environmental protection, we should hold onto the idea that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, work harder to conduct the awareness raising and education activities of ecological culture, advocate diligent, conservation-oriented, green, low-carbon, civilized, and healthy lifestyles and consumption patterns, and further raise the awareness of the whole society on ecological civilization. We should preserve the ecological environment the way we protect our eyes, treat it the way we cherish our life, and render ecological civilization to be one of the mainstream values in society and an integral part of the socialism core values. We should properly handle the relation between economic development and ecological environment protection, and firmly bear in mind that preserving the ecological environment is equivalent to protecting the productive force, and improving the ecological environment equals to developing the productive force. Furthermore, we should take more initiative to advance the green development, circular development, and low-carbon development, and constantly raise the people’s sense of gain in preserving the ecological environment.

The Ministry plans to make public-benefit commercials and awareness raising products around the theme of the World Environment Day and launch awareness activities on “touring around the beautiful country”. Local areas will also celebrate this day with diversified theme events, and disseminate the idea that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, so as to aggregate the social consensuses and create a good environment for the whole society to contribute to promoting ecological progress.