International community praises China's green emphasis

The international community has spoken highly of China's move to give ecological progress a more prominent position.

The goal was incorporated into the overall development plan during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which ended here on Wednesday.

Niranjan Deva-Aditya, chairman of the EU-China Friendship Association, said China had lifted its people from poverty with the theoretical guidance of a scientific outlook on development.

China was taking a great step forward in terms of ecology, he said, adding it was an exceptional move to encapsulate an ecological outlook in the Party constitution.

Babara Finamore, founder and director of the China Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the CPC's move to incorporate ecological civilization into the country's overall development was of the utmost importance to ensuring China's continued progress, improving the quality of life of its citizens, and protecting global environmental safety.

Finamore said China had made tremendous progress over the past two decades in advancing green development, becoming a world leader in energy efficiency and clean energy.

John Cobb, Jr., a U.S. ecological economist, said, "I am convinced that China will greatly benefit from any steps that it takes in the direction of ecological civilization and this will also contribute to the whole world."

He said China would be providing a global leadership that is urgently needed.

Geng Xin, deputy director of the Japan-China cooperative New Japan Research Institute, said greatly pushing forward ecological civilization construction, as pledged at the CPC congress, well expressed the CPC's principle of "serving the people wholeheartedly" and the Chinese government's idea of "rule on the basis of humanity."

Pushing forward ecological civilization construction was a timely step adopted by the CPC and the Chinese government to cope with the increasing environmental and ecological pressure, he said.

He described China's efforts in achieving ecological progress as a vigorous exploration, trying to transform the country's pursuit for economic efficiency to quality of life.

China's moves would make it a world leader in protecting the earth and ushering in a new era of ecological civilization.

Enrique Posada, a renowned Columbian economist and director of the think tank Asia-Pacific Virtual Observatory, said the two parts concerning economy and ecology in the 18th CPC congress report were new.

Keywords such as resource conservation, eco-friendly society, green, and low carbon, which appeared many times in the 18th CPC congress report, demonstrated China was endeavoring to achieve fast economic growth on the basis of maximizing the use and protection of resources, he said.

Denise Kodhe, executive director of the Institute for Democracy & Leadership in Africa, said to push forward the building of ecological civilization was a very correct decision, which was not only a progress in concept, but also of significance at the strategic level.

The building of ecological civilization stretched China's definition of development and reflected the importance the Chinese leadership paid to people's health and living standard, he said.

African countries hoped to learn from the successful experience of China's development, he said, adding the concept of building ecological civilization would certainly expand future cooperation in this area between the Chinese government and African governments.

John Conner, CEO of the Climate Institute of Australia, said the stress put on pushing forward the building of ecological civilization in the 18th CPC congress report was very important.

"This is an important integration reflecting growing signals of the determination of the Chinese government to achieve its environmental and climate-related goals in its 12th Five Year Plan," he said, adding it also demonstrated China could build a reputation as a serious player in ecological sustainability.

Elizabeth C. Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said: "I think the good news is your ministries are becoming much more interested in public health for example, are becoming much more interested in environmental protection."

"They see the relations between health and the environment, and I think this would be a very positive force pushing forward," Economy said in an interview with Xinhua.

Former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov said the concept of ecological civilization set the new trend of global development, and was especially important to countries like China. The achievement China made in promoting ecological civilization would benefit neighbouring countries.

Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini said the fact the 18th national congress stressed the importance of protecting the environment and promoting ecological civilization indicated China would continue to invest more resources in this area. China had progressed noticeably in environmental protection in recent years, contributing a lot to the improvement of the global environment.

Henning Kristoffersen, a China expert in Norway, said placing the concept of ecological civilization at the core of building sustainable development for China had a huge impact not only on China, but also on the whole world. For a sustainable global development, it was therefore vital that Chinese leaders commit to placing creating a beautiful country alongside advancing economic, political, cultural and social progress.

Pierre Picquart, a French expert on China, said the environment issue was crucial to people's welfare. The report of the 18th national congress had put the building of ecological civilization at a noticeable place. In recent years, Chinese leaders had mentioned the concept of ecological civilization on many occasions, facilitating research and investments in renewable energy. As a result, the appearance of some coastal cities had changed, he said.