Beautiful China plan highlights green governance

Editor's note: China has released a plan for building a Beautiful China during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period. China Economic Times spoke to Zhou Hongchun, a researcher at the Development Research Centre of the State Council, on the significance of the plan. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

As the first five-year plan to focus explicitly on building a Beautiful China, it moves beyond the previous approach that concentrated primarily on pollution control. The plan introduces a new model of coordinated governance covering all regions, environmental elements and stages of development.

In terms of tasks, the focus has shifted to an integrated approach that advances carbon reduction, pollution control, green development and economic growth. The goals have expanded from cleaner air, greener land and clearer water to areas that directly affect people's quality of life and health, including emerging pollutants, noise, ecological security and environmental problems in communities. The emphasis is on comprehensive improvement rather than simply meeting individual standards.

A key objective is to reverse the growth in fossil fuel consumption and promote simultaneous reductions in major pollutants and carbon emissions. The plan envisions a symbiotic relationship between development and environmental protection, using high-quality environmental protection to bolster high-quality development, and vice versa. This integration of the two goals creates a mutually reinforcing virtuous cycle. 

From an economic perspective, the new quality productive forces emerging in ecological and environmental protection are themselves a form of green productivity. From being seen as a cost constraint, environmental protection is shifting to become a growth engine. Mechanisms such as carbon markets and green finance can help put this principle into practice by making carbon emissions costlier and carbon reduction more economically rewarding.

There are many opportunities to achieve synergies between pollution reduction and economic growth in the treatment of air, water and soil pollution. The key lies in rethinking these challenges and leveraging innovation, especially disruptive technologies.

Currently, businesses face challenges such as high initial investments, long payback periods, limited returns and policy uncertainty when participating in ecological development. These issues need to be addressed through stronger policy support and well-designed market mechanisms to create long-term incentives for businesses to participate in ecological civilization efforts in ways that are economically viable for them.

Additionally, efforts should be made to remove obstacles that hinder the realization of the value of ecological products. Turning the value of ecological products into tangible economic value is an effective way to shift businesses from passive compliance to active participation in building a Beautiful China.