Eastern Chinese city bolsters move to measure lifestyle modernization

A prefecture-level city in East China's Zhejiang province is measuring the "modernization" of its citizens' lifestyles through a green and low-carbon living index.

As the birthplace of the concept of green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver, Huzhou pioneered a green low-carbon living index in China 2021 and nurtured it for six years, becoming a window for "seeing beautiful China" in Huzhou through daily life.

On Aug 15, Huzhou released the "Green and Low-Carbon Lifestyle Index Report" — its sixth consecutive version — with a score hitting 98.4 points, a 0.2-point rise over 2025.

Among the city's 3.47 million residents, Han Xue, a user of "Huzhou Ecological ID", is showcasing her daily footprint: setting her air conditioner at 26 C in the morning, driving to work in a new energy vehicle, cycling to meet friends at noon, ordering small portions of food, sorting and disposing trash after dinner before going for a jog, and opening her "Huzhou Ecological ID" app to redeem coffee coupons before going to bed.

Lifestyle transformation is not solely the responsibility of the people, but also requires the government to be precise and proactive, said Lai Huineng, director of Zhejiang Huaxia Institute of Livelihood and Public Welfare, which is responsible for developing and evaluating the Huzhou index.

He noted that the "measurable indicators" in the index are the standard for testing the government's performance, including the "green electricity accounting coverage rate," the "leakage rate of water supply pipeline network", the proportion of new energy buses and taxis, and the "garbage recycling utilization rate".

Launched in 2025, the "Huzhou Ecological ID" is the core carrier that connects the government, enterprises, and society. One end covers the government's policy intentions, embedding carbon emission reduction requirements into 25 high-frequency scenarios such as commuting, dining, consumption, travel, and leisure. One end is connected to the daily behavior of the residents, whose green behaviors can be rewarded through accumulation. One end is linked to market entities, and green coins are directed to merchants participating in green drive, bringing precise customer flow to them.

As of Aug 9, the "Huzhou Ecological ID" platform has over 1.21 million individual users, with an average of 4,000 daily active users and a total of 15.84 million green coins.

Lania, a researcher at Nanyang Technological University, said Huzhou's practices in zero-emission public transportation, green tourism, and recycling of renewable resources have created an international benchmark.

In the field of zero emission transportation, the proportion of NEV in Huzhou's public transport has remained stable at 100 percent since 2022. In renewable resource recycling, the local Meixinda circular industry park disassembles 100,000 scrapped cars and processes 200,000 metric tons of scrap metals annually.

In response to the global consensus on climate action in tourism industry, the Moganshan Mountain in Deqing county has cultivated a low-carbon drive. Over 700 homestays have completed all-electric transformation, while the scenic areas realize 100 percent electrification, relying on more than 200 kilometers of mountain trails.

"Huzhou's exploration has provided practical support for the international publicity of ecological civilization," Lania said.

The green transformation of lifestyle is essentially the reshaping of human civilization. Among the 1.2 million users on the "Huzhou Ecological ID" platform, women and teenagers account for over 60 percent, making them the core group for green behavior transformation.

On campus, green transformation is moving from textbooks to practice, while in families, going green has evolved from a concept to a source of income. In rural areas, young entrepreneurs are helping drive a new aesthetic life that is greener and more sustainable.

Please contact the writer at hanjingyan@chinadaily.com.cn