A Beautiful China Initiative Towards the Harmony between Humanity and the Nature

Highlights

● The Beautiful China Initiative (BCI) provides Chinese wisdom for the sustainable development and welfare of all humanity.

● The progress of the BCI is summarized.

● Challenges and opportunities faced in implementing the BCI are analyzed.

● Policy suggestions for comprehensively advancing the BCI are proposed.

Abstract

The Beautiful China Initiative (BCI) is a vivid embodiment of the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature during modernization. Implementing the BCI is an effective method for achieving the goals of building a beautiful China, while offering a “Chinese solution” to global sustainable development. This article summarizes the progress and main experiences of the BCI, as well as analyzing the primary challenges facing its future development. Finally, five policy recommendations are proposed, which emphasize the importance of top-level design, coordinated planning, and a robust support system in the implementation of the BCI.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Beautiful China Initiative / Ecological civilization / Practice / Policy suggestion

Full size|PPT slide

Qin Changbo currently serves as the Executive Director and Professor of the Center for Beautiful China (CBC) and the Director of the Institute of Strategic Planning at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning (CAEP), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. He is also the Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the Environmental Planning Committee of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Economics from Twente University, Netherlands. Since then, he has been dedicated to research and practical work in the fields of the Beautiful China Initiative strategy, environmental economic simulation, strategic environmental planning, and ecological civilization system reform. As a project leader or principal investigator, he has undertaken more than 50 national, provincial, and ministerial scientific research and decision-making support projects. He has participated in the drafting of a series of important national decisions, such as Guidelines to Comprehensively Promote the Development of a “Beautiful China” and the 14th Five-Year Plan for Ecology and Environmental Protection. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and nearly 20 books. His independent development of the Environmental CGE Model—the China Environmental Economic General Equilibrium Analysis System—has won the first prize of provincial and ministerial scientific and technological awards. He has received in total 6 awards from the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences and the Urban Planning Society of China. Dr

Wang Jinnan is the Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Deputy Chairman of Population, Resources, and Environment Committee of the CPPCC, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), President of the Council of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences (CSES), and Honorary Dean of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning (CAEP), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. He is also the Chair Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor of Zhejiang University, China. He serves as the Deputy Chairman of the National Expert Committee on Ecological and Environmental Protection and the Deputy Chairman of the National Expert Committee on Climate Change as well as the Chairman of the National Expert Committee on Control of Emerging Pollutants. In the past 4 decades, he has been dedicated and committed himself to national environmental planning and management studies. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and authored 11 monographs. He has won in total 7 national talent titles such as the first batch of National Top 100 Talents and received 22 national or ministerial scientific and technological awards. He presided over or participated in the studies on developing national environmental protection planning from the 10th-Five-Year period to the 14th Five-Year period, establishing national decision-making and management system on pollution reduction engineering, designing national economic policy solutions on environmental taxation, emission trading scheme, and ecological compensation, and constructing green GDP and Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) accounting

References

[1] AnL (2021). Follow Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization in forestry development. Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views on Eco-Civilization Construction, ed. Pan J, Gao S, Li Q, Wang J, Wu D, and Huang C. Singapore: Springer

[2] Bhattacharyya S S, Leite F F G D, France C L, Adekoya A O, Ros G H, De Vries W, Melchor-Martínez E M, Iqbal H M, Parra-Saldívar R. (2022). Soil carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution under different tillage practices. Science of the Total Environment, 826: 154161

[3] BrundtlandG H (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. Brundtland Report. New York: UN Documents

[4] Chen C, Park T, Wang X, Piao S, Xu B, Chaturvedi R K, Fuchs R, Brovkin V, Ciais P, Fensholt R. . (2019). China and India lead in greening of the world through land-use management. Nature Sustainability, 2(2): 122–129

[5] Chen M, Liang L, Wang Z, Zhang W, Yu J, Liang Y. (2020a). Geographical thoughts on the relationship between ‘Beautiful China’ and land spatial planning. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 30(5): 705–723

[6] ChenSChen D (2022). On accelerating the green and low-carbon transition for an ecological civilization with Chinese characteristics. Chinese Economy, 17(2): 28-47 (in Chinese)

[7] Chen S, Zhang L, Liu B, Yi H, Su H, Kharrazi A, Jiang F, Lu Z, John C C, Chen B. (2023). Decoupling wastewater-related greenhouse gas emissions and water stress alleviation across 300 cities in China is challenging yet plausible by 2030. Nature Water, 1(6): 534–546

[8] ChenYLiu SWuHZhangXZhouQ (2020b). How can Belt and Road countries contribute to glocal low-carbon development? Journal of Cleaner Production, 256: 120717

[9] Cheng C, Ge C. (2020). Green development assessment for countries along the belt and road. Journal of Environmental Management, 263: 110344

[10] Cheng J, Tong D, Liu Y, Bo Y, Zheng B, Geng G, He K, Zhang Q. (2021). Air quality and health benefits of China’s current and upcoming clean air policies. Faraday Discussions, 226: 584–606

[11] Deng X, Lv T, Xu J, Hou X, Liu F. (2022). Assessing the integration effect of inter-regional transmission on variable power generation under renewable energy consumption policy in China. Energy Policy, 170: 113219

[12] Dincer I. (2000). Renewable energy and sustainable development: a crucial review. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 4(2): 157–175

[13] DongZChang DHaoCBaiY (2023). Environmental economic policy innovation in comprehensively promoting the construction of a Beautiful China. Ecological Economics, 39(12): 13–18 (in Chinese)

[14] Duan H, Zhou S, Jiang K, Bertram C, Harmsen M, Kriegler E, Van Vuuren D P, Wang S, Fujimori S, Tavoni M. . (2021). Assessing China’s efforts to pursue the 1.5 °C warming limit. Science, 372(6540): 378–385

[15] EcksteinDKünzel VSchäferL (2021). The Global Climate Risk Index 2021. Bonn: Germanwatch

[16] Fang C, Wang Z, Liu H. (2020). Beautiful China Initiative: human-nature harmony theory, evaluation index system and application. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 30(5): 691–704

[17] Gallagher K S, Zhang F, Orvis R, Rissman J, Liu Q. (2019). Assessing the policy gaps for achieving China’s climate targets in the Paris Agreement. Nature Communications, 10(1): 1256

[18] Ge Q, Fang C, Jiang D. (2020). Geographical missions and coupling ways between human and nature for the Beautiful China Initiative. Acta Geographica Sinica, 75: 1109–1119

[19] Hansen M H, Li H, Svarverud R. (2018). Ecological civilization: interpreting the Chinese past, projecting the global future. Global Environmental Change, 53: 195–203

[20] He J K. (2016). Global low-carbon transition and China’s response strategies. Advances in Climate Change Research, 7(4): 204–212

[21] Höhne N, Den Elzen M, Rogelj J, Metz B, Fransen T, Kuramochi T, Olhoff A, Alcamo J, Winkler H, Fu S. . (2020). Emissions: world has four times the work or one-third of the time. Nature, 579(7797): 25–28

[22] Hu B, Shao S, Ni H, Fu Z, Hu L, Zhou Y, Min X, She S, Chen S, Huang M. . (2020). Current status, spatial features, health risks, and potential driving factors of soil heavy metal pollution in China at province level. Environmental Pollution, 266: 114961

[23] HuJWuY IrfanMHu M (2023). Has the ecological civilization pilot promoted the transformation of industrial structure in China? Ecological Indicators, 155: 111053

[24] Huang W, Saydaliev H B, Iqbal W, Irfan M. (2022). Measuring the impact of economic policies on CO₂ emissions: ways to achieve green economic recovery in the post-covid-19 era. Climate Change Economics, 13(3): 2240010

[25] HughesA CGrumbine R E (2023). The Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework: what it does and does not do, and how to improve it. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 11

[26] IEA (2023). World Energy Investment 2023. Paris: IEA

[27] Jiang H, Wu W, Wang J, Yang W, Gao Y, Duan Y, Ma G, Wu C, Shao J. (2021). Mapping global value of terrestrial ecosystem services by countries. Ecosystem Services, 52: 101361

[28] Jing Z, Wang Y, Chang J, Wang X, Zhou Y, Li L, Tian Y. (2024). Benefit compensation of hydropower-wind-photovoltaic complementary operation in the large clean energy base. Applied Energy, 354: 122040

[29] Liang J, Irfan M, Ikram M, Zimon D. (2022). Evaluating natural resources volatility in an emerging economy: the influence of solar energy development barriers. Resources Policy, 78: 102858

[30] Liu Z, Xue W, Ni X, Qi Z, Zhang Q, Wang J. (2021). Fund gap to high air quality in China: a cost evaluation for PM_{2. 5} abatement based on the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 319: 128715

[31] Lu X, Tong D, He K. (2023). China’s carbon neutrality: an extensive and profound systemic reform. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 17(2): 14

[32] Lu Y, Yang Y, Sun B, Yuan J, Yu M, Stenseth N C, Bullock J M, Obersteiner M. (2020). Spatial variation in biodiversity loss across China under multiple environmental stressors. Science Advances, 6(47): eabd0952

[33] PezzeyJ (1992). Sustainable Development Concepts. Washington, DC: World Bank

[34] Qian H, Xu S, Cao J, Ren F, Wei W, Meng J, Wu L. (2021). Air pollution reduction and climate co-benefits in China’s industries. Nature Sustainability, 4(5): 417–425

[35] QiaoQ (2022). The main connotation and its theoretical value of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Gansu Social Sciences, 6: 1–9 (in Chinese)

[36] Qin C, Su J, Xiao Y, Qiang Y, Xiong S. (2023). Assessing the Beautiful China Initiative from an environmental perspective: indicators, goals, and provincial performance. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 30(35): 84412–84424

[37] UNEP (2016). Green is Gold: the Strategy and Actions of China’s Ecological Civilization. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Program

[38] UNEP (2019). Chinese Initiative Ant Forest Wins UN Champions of the Earth Award. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Program

[39] WanJ (2023). Further promoting the nationwide battle to prevent and control pollution and build a Beautiful China with blue sky, green land and clear water. Environmental Protection, 51(18): 31–33 (in Chinese)

[40] WanJLuL ZhangXXiao YQinCXiongS (2022). Local practice progress and suggestions on building of a Beautiful China. Chinese Journal of Environmental Management, 14(6): 25–32 (in Chinese)

[41] WanJWangJ LiXQinC QiangYSu J (2021). Strategic goals and implementation path of building a Beautiful China in 2035. Chinese Journal of Environmental Management, 13(5): 29–36 (in Chinese)

[42] WangJ (2021a). Environmental Protection in China in the Past 70 Years. Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views on Eco-Civilization Construction. Berlin: Springer

[43] WangJQin CSuJXiongS (2022). A design and its application of the target indicator system for the construction of Beautiful China. Environmental Protection, 50(8): 12–17 (in Chinese)

[44] WangY (2021b). Green Transformation in China: Progress and Outlook. Beautiful China: 70 Years Since 1949 and 70 People’s Views on Eco-Civilization Construction. Berlin: Springer

[45] Wang Y, Guo C, Chen X, Jia L, Guo X, Chen R, Zhang M, Chen Z, Wang H. (2021). Carbon peak and carbon neutrality in China: goals, implementation path and prospects. China Geology, 4(4): 720–746

[46] Wang Y, Wang R, Tanaka K, Ciais P, Penuelas J, Balkanski Y, Sardans J, Hauglustaine D, Liu W, Xing X. . (2023). Accelerating the energy transition towards photovoltaic and wind in China. Nature, 619(7971): 761–767

[47] Wei W, Li J, Chen B, Wang M, Zhang P, Guan D, Meng J, Qian H, Cheng Y, Kang C. . (2021). Embodied greenhouse gas emissions from building China’s large-scale power transmission infrastructure. Nature Sustainability, 4(8): 739–747

[48] WuSLiX WangQQin C (2015). Study of the medium-long term strategic roadmaps of “another three-step” for green development in China. Environmental Protection Science, 41(5): 1–6 (in Chinese)

[49] Xie M, Duan H, Kang P, Qiao Q, Bai L. (2021). Toward an ecological civilization: China’s progress as documented by the second national general survey of pollution sources. Engineering, 7(9): 1336–1341

[50] Xie W, Zhu A, Ali T, Zhang Z, Chen X, Wu F, Huang J, Davis K F. (2023). Crop switching can enhance environmental sustainability and farmer incomes in China. Nature, 616(7956): 300–305

[51] Xie Z. (2020). China’s historical evolution of environmental protection along with the forty years’ reform and opening-up. Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 1: 100001

[52] Yu L, Guo X, Qin C, Yang L, Lu W, Niu R, Yuan K, Xue Q. (2022). Integrating synergistic control of pollutants and carbon dioxide into “Three Lines and One Permit” in China. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 97: 106908

[53] Zhang Q, Zheng Y, Tong D, Shao M, Wang S, Zhang Y, Xu X, Wang J, He H, Liu W. . (2019). Drivers of improved PM_2.5 air quality in China from 2013 to 2017. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(49): 24463–24469

[54] Zhou M, Wang H, Zeng X, Yin P, Zhu J, Chen W, Li X, Wang L, Wang L, Liu Y. . (2019). Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet, 394(10204): 1145–1158

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Open Access

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s) 2024. This article is published with open access at link.springer.com and journal.hep.com.cn