Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets

Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. This is an important concept for development in the new era and a major principle behind China's modernization drive.

The comparison of mountains of green with mountains of gold was first made by Xi Jinping in 2005 when he visited Yucun, a village in Zhejiang Province, in his capacity as secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee. 

This idea bears on the future of the Chinese civilization and people's wellbeing, as it cherishes harmony between humanity and nature and between the economy and society, so that a sound eco-environment and fast economic growth can be both maintained. This is because maintaining a sound eco-environment will surely benefit humanity, while damaging nature will incur harm in the end. Humanity can enjoy a sound eco-environment only by fostering harmony with nature and creating a sound eco-environment for ourselves.

Responding to students in Kazakhstan in September 2013, Xi Jinping said, "We want to have not only mountains of gold, but also mountains of green. If we must choose between the two, we would rather have the green than the gold. And in any case, green mountains are themselves gold mountains." He also pointed out that China will never seek short-term economic growth at the expense of its eco-environment. The goal of building an eco-civilization and a beautiful China is to leave to future generations a legacy of blue skies, green vegetation and clear waters.

The references to green mountains and gold mountains make it easy to understand the relationship between environmental protection and economic development, the two of which do not conflict with each other, but can make progress side by side. On the one hand, clear waters and green mountains are not only natural and eco-environmental wealth, but also social and economic wealth. Healthy ecosystems promise boundless economic potential, generate steady returns, and contribute to economic and social sustainability. On the other hand, they make a major contribution to a happy life for the people, much more precious than economic returns. A good eco-environment is the shared wealth of the people, a fair public product, and the most inclusive form of public wellbeing.

The concept that mountains of green are mountains of gold is rooted in the Chinese philosophy about "unity of humanity and nature" and harmony between the two. It interprets the relationship between economic development and eco-environmental protection, thus: Protecting the eco-environment equates to protecting productive forces; improving the eco-environment equates to enhancing productive forces. This is a new way to coordinate development and protection.

綠水青山就是金山銀山

綠水青山就是金山銀山，是新時(shí)代中國(guó)重要的發(fā)展理念，是推進(jìn)現(xiàn)代化建設(shè)的重大原則。2005年8月，時(shí)任中共浙江省委書(shū)記習(xí)近平在浙江省安吉余村首次提出了“綠水青山就是金山銀山”這一關(guān)系文明興衰、人民福祉的發(fā)展理念，要求追求人與自然的和諧、經(jīng)濟(jì)與社會(huì)的和諧，既要綠水青山，又要金山銀山。因?yàn)椋G水青山是“人的無(wú)機(jī)的身體”，只有留得綠水青山在，才能保護(hù)人類自身，破壞了綠水青山，最終會(huì)殃及人類自身。而只要堅(jiān)持人與自然和諧共生，守望好綠水青山，就能永恒擁有綠水青山。

2013年9月7日，習(xí)近平在哈薩克斯坦回答學(xué)生提問(wèn)時(shí)指出，中國(guó)明確把生態(tài)環(huán)境保護(hù)擺在更加突出的位置，既要綠水青山，也要金山銀山；寧要綠水青山，不要金山銀山，而且綠水青山就是金山銀山。中國(guó)絕不以犧牲生態(tài)環(huán)境為代價(jià)換取經(jīng)濟(jì)的一時(shí)發(fā)展。建設(shè)生態(tài)文明、建設(shè)美麗中國(guó)的戰(zhàn)略任務(wù)，就是為了給子孫留下天藍(lán)、地綠、水凈的美好家園。

綠水青山和金山銀山，是對(duì)生態(tài)環(huán)境保護(hù)和經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的形象化表達(dá)，這兩者不是矛盾對(duì)立的關(guān)系，而是辯證統(tǒng)一的關(guān)系。一方面，綠水青山既是自然財(cái)富、生態(tài)財(cái)富，又是社會(huì)財(cái)富、經(jīng)濟(jì)財(cái)富。良好生態(tài)本身蘊(yùn)含無(wú)窮的經(jīng)濟(jì)價(jià)值，能夠源源不斷創(chuàng)造綜合效益，實(shí)現(xiàn)經(jīng)濟(jì)社會(huì)可持續(xù)發(fā)展。另一方面，綠水青山是人民幸福生活的重要內(nèi)容，勝過(guò)金山銀山。良好生態(tài)環(huán)境是人民群眾的共有財(cái)富，是最公平的公共產(chǎn)品、最普惠的民生福祉。

綠水青山就是金山銀山的發(fā)展觀，繼承了“天人合一”的中華民族生態(tài)智慧，體現(xiàn)了人與自然和諧共生的本質(zhì)要求，闡述了經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展和生態(tài)環(huán)境保護(hù)的關(guān)系，揭示了保護(hù)生態(tài)環(huán)境就是保護(hù)生產(chǎn)力、改善生態(tài)環(huán)境就是發(fā)展生產(chǎn)力的道理，指明了實(shí)現(xiàn)發(fā)展和保護(hù)協(xié)同共生的新路徑。