NPC deputies, CPPCC members highlight green as defining feature of a Beautiful China

China has seen consistent improvement in environmental quality and has achieved remarkable results in building a Beautiful China.

Over the past year, China's average concentration of PM2.5 in cities at and above the prefectural level fell by 4.4 percent, while the proportion of surface water monitoring sections with excellent water quality rose to 91.4 percent. Last year, the country's installed capacity for new energy storage surpassed 130 million kilowatts, the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption reached 21.7 percent, and energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 5.1 percent.

This year's government work report pledged to accelerate the green transition across the board. Guided by the goals of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, China will make coordinated efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development, and boost economic growth, while strengthening the drivers of green development.

During this year's "two sessions," the annual meetings of China's top legislature and top political advisory body, deputies to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) put forward proposals and suggestions to help advance the building of a Beautiful China.

Hu Xiaochun, an NPC deputy and the 19th guardian of the Guest-Greeting Pine, a famous landmark on Huangshan Mountain in east China's Anhui Province, has spent years on the front line of ecological protection and has a firsthand understanding of the demands of the job.

Hu Xiaochun checks on the growth of the Guest-Greeting Pine. (Photo courtesy of Hu Xiaochun)

The story of the pine's guardianship — from a single guard, to a professional team, to today's collaborative model involving the guardians, judicial authorities, scenic area management, and the wider public — is a vivid example of how China's ecological governance has steadily improved.

"Ecological protection is a systemic undertaking and a long-term commitment," Hu said. Building an effective multi-party governance system, he argued, requires strengthening frontline professional capacity, providing a solid legal guarantee, and improving coordination mechanisms.

The Sanjiangyuan National Park, located in the heart of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, was China's first pilot national park. Lian Yuming, a CPPCC member and founding president of the Beijing International Institute for Urban Development, suggested that Sanjiangyuan should play a leading role in establishing a protection-oriented, open, and inclusive system for nationwide ecological stewardship and development.

Photo shows a view of the Sanjiangyuan National Park. 

At last year's "two sessions," Liu Jinxiu, an NPC deputy and chairwoman of an agricultural technology development company in central China's Hubei Province, submitted a suggestion on comprehensive straw utilization under the "Two Mountains" theory, which holds that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend.

Shortly after the "two sessions," officials from the relevant departments visited Hubei's Luotian county, where she lives, to conduct on-site research. The county has been designated as one of 400 national model counties for comprehensive straw utilization.

"We convert straw, chestnut shells, and medicinal herb residues from the Dabie Mountains into fodder for sheep, and use the sheep manure as organic fertilizer," Liu said. "This has cut carbon emissions previously caused by burning straw, improved soil organic matter, enhanced the local ecosystem, reduced our company's breeding costs, and increased the added value of agricultural products. The lucid waters and lush mountains on our doorstep have long since become invaluable assets for local people," she added.

An aerial drone photo taken on Aug. 19, 2025 shows a wind power project in Qiubei County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Peng Yikai)

Sun Yuhan, a CPPCC member and president of the Shanxi Research Institute of Huairou Laboratory, said he has seen firsthand through field research how new quality productive forces in the energy sector are turning green consumption from a concept into a tangible reality. The accelerating promotion of green methanol and sustainable aviation fuel is reinforcing China's energy security while also driving growing interest in new power systems and green shipping.

The country is combining supply-side and demand-side measures, and people are increasingly willing to work toward greener and more efficient lifestyles, Sun said. Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), he suggested removing bottlenecks in the commercialization of scientific and technological advances, and spurring green consumption, smart consumption, and service consumption, so that green becomes the defining feature of a high-quality life.

This year's government work report also called for devoting greater efforts to treating new pollutants and taking comprehensive steps to treat solid waste.

Li Shupeng, a CPPCC member and deputy general manager of BCEG Environmental Remediation Co., Ltd., said green development has become a compulsory question that must be addressed in the pursuit of high-quality development. In recent years, his company has made the recycling of solid waste a core priority — transforming industrial solid waste such as phosphogypsum, red mud, and coal gangue into bio-based backfill materials and green building supplies, giving new life to materials once regarded as waste.