Xiconomics: How China's green drive powers global sustainable development

BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- As the year 2026 marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, global attention is on how China will advance its comprehensive green transition to promote development, improve people's well-being and contribute to a better future for the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged efforts to "catalyze green transition in the course of economic development and achieve greater development through green transition."

Guided by the philosophy that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," China has made remarkable strides in its green drive and will continue to act as a responsible major country, contributing its wisdom and efforts to global sustainable development.

VISIONARY GUIDANCE

A steady and long-term green transition is pushed forward by unremitting focus and guided by a holistic and systematic view of green development.

At China's annual "two sessions," Xi has repeatedly highlighted environmental protection and green development agendas, underscoring the drive to promote ecological civilization and pursue a path of green development.

While taking part in the deliberation during the annual "two sessions" in 2018, Xi told deputies from Inner Mongolia to build a "Green Great Wall" in the northern border of the motherland.

Under his leadership, China has made remarkable achievements in its green transition during the concluded 14th Five-Year Plan period. The country has established both the biggest carbon market and the largest clean power generation system in the world. Ecological conditions have shown steady improvement, with forest coverage expanded to over 25 percent of China's land area.

Sheradil Baktygulov, director of the Institute of World Politics of Kyrgyzstan, has visited China multiple times in recent years.

Recalling his observations in China, Baktygulov said that many deserts have gradually been turned into green oases, and smog in cities has declined sharply. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization has firmly taken root in China and produced tangible achievements, he added.

The "two mountains" concept, which holds that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," was first put forward in Anji County in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Anji, renowned as China's "bamboo county," has over 1 million mu (about 66,667 hectares) of bamboo forests.

Using Xi's concept as guidance, Anji has transformed itself into a model of environmental protection and sustainable development. It has established China's inaugural county-level bamboo forest carbon sink trading platform, allowing farmers to redeem rewards for planting bamboo.

Erik Solheim, former under-secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) and former executive director of the UN Environment Programme, has visited Zhejiang several times and was impressed by Anji's transformation.

China's progress carries significance for the world, Solheim said, noting that other nations can learn from China's approach that economic growth and ecological protection can go hand in hand.

The 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, opened its fourth session on Thursday, to which a draft environmental code was submitted for deliberation.

Herve Azoulay, a professor at the Silk Road Business School in France, said the code marks another milestone on China's path of green development and fully demonstrates the sustained influence of China's vision.

GREEN INNOVATION

Technological innovation is a core driver of China's green transition and an important bond linking the country with the rest of the world in strengthening green cooperation.

Xi has repeatedly emphasized the need to "boost technological innovation and industrial transformation through cooperation, and facilitate the free flow of quality green technologies and products," so that the "benefits of green development can reach all corners of the world."

In recent years, China has carried out a wide range of green energy cooperation projects with more than 100 countries and regions, benefiting local communities with its strengths in clean energy technologies.

In the eastern mountainous region of Azerbaijan, the Chinese-built Khizi-Absheron Wind Power Plant, the largest single wind power project in Azerbaijan, was fully completed in December 2025. The plant is expected to generate nearly 1 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually, with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 400,000 tons each year.

In an interview with local media in January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the green energy and transport cooperation with China. The professionalism, quality and speed of execution of these projects "have confirmed the correctness of this choice," he said.

On the Pacific island nation of Nauru, a photovoltaic project built by a Chinese company now generates enough electricity to meet the country's demand. As night falls, more than 400 newly installed solar-powered streetlights gradually illuminate the island. Witnessing this scene, Nauruan President David Adeang said, "I'm very proud."

In Kenya, a new Chinese-built geothermal power plant near the Menengai Crater is about to begin operation, helping Kenya move closer to its goal of a national electricity power grid that is 100 percent green by 2030. President William Ruto has described the project as a milestone.

"China as the world's second-largest economy has a critical role to play in energy transition, both at home and also encouraging others to go into an active, just transition, backed with the resources that are needed," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN secretary-general.

Hans-Josef Fell, president of the German think tank Energy Watch Group, said he believes that the global shift toward green and low-carbon development has become an irreversible trend of the times, and that China is undoubtedly one of the key leaders driving this process forward.

CONCRETE ACTIONS

"Faced with unprecedented challenges in global environmental governance, the international community needs to come up with unprecedented ambition and action," Xi said during the Leaders Summit on Climate in 2021.

"We need to act with a sense of responsibility and unity, and work together to foster a community of life for man and Nature," Xi said. His remarks help build broader consensus for advancing global environmental governance and green transition.

To tackle climate change, China has elevated the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality to the level of national strategy. It has established one of the world's most comprehensive policy frameworks for carbon reduction and become one of the countries with the fastest declines in energy intensity.

Meanwhile, China supplies about 70 percent of the world's wind power equipment and roughly 80 percent of photovoltaic modules, which reduces the cost of wind and solar power generation worldwide and helps developing countries cut carbon emissions.

"When China says they want to do something green ... they do it quickly," said Andrew Schwartz, executive director of the U.S. think tank Center for Process Studies, adding that concrete actions by China give him hope.

Although climate policies in some countries flip-flop, China has remained steadfast in honoring its climate commitments. In April 2025, Xi stressed the importance of prioritizing green and low-carbon development at the Leaders Meeting on Climate and the Just Transition.

Five months later, at the UN Climate Summit, he announced China's 2035 Nationally Determined Contributions in his video remarks, injecting fresh momentum into global climate governance.

The recommendations for China's 15th Five-Year Plan, adopted in October 2025, clearly stated that the country will work "actively and prudently toward peaking carbon emissions," and "improve the working system for climate change adaptation to bolster our ability to respond to climate change, especially extreme weather conditions."

China has also expanded international green cooperation across multiple platforms. An example is the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition, which has attracted more than 180 partners from over 40 countries.

Meanwhile, China has pushed for the building of the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization ecological and environmental protection innovation base, hosted high-level dialogues on environment and climate with the EU, and established the International Mangrove Center to work with countries in Southeast Asia and Africa on mangrove protection.

China has also jointly established the New Development Bank with fellow BRICS members to finance green infrastructure as well as clean energy and environmental protection projects in emerging economies.

Stephen Ndegwa, executive director of the Kenyan think tank South-South Dialogues, said that with green cooperation, China is supporting Global South countries in improving livelihoods, tackling climate change and embracing sustainable development. ■