Country for PR: China
Contributor: PR Newswire Asia (China)
Saturday, May 08 2021 - 18:21
AsiaNet
Xi Jinping Takes Inspiration from Classic Text in Call for Greater Harmony between Humans, Nature
BEIJING, May 8, 2021/PRNewswire-AsiaNet/--

A report from CCTV+:

Chinese President Xi Jinping has on many occasions stressed the need for 
greater efforts to protect the ecological environment, with Xi taking his 
inspiration from classic works and looking to promote the shift towards a 
greener, low-carbon lifestyle to ensure harmony between humans and nature.

Xi quoted from the ancient Chinese classical text 'Zi Zhi Tong Jian', or 
'Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance', first published almost a 
millennium ago, in a speech delivered at the opening of the Beijing 
Horticultural Expo back in April 2019.

During this speech, Xi acknowledged that: "industrialization, while generating 
unprecedented material wealth, has incurred serious damage to Mother Nature."

These remarks came against the backdrop of growing concern over the effects of 
climate change, as well as worries that fossil fuels could soon run out if 
humans continue to burn at the current rate, while key resources such as land, 
water and energy are all becoming more limited.

"'Well-measured use of natural resources' is the key to ecological 
conservation," Xi told the expo.

"We need to promote a simpler, greener, and low-carbon lifestyle, oppose 
excessiveness and wastefulness, and foster a culture of living green and 
healthy," the president said.

"Looking up at night, we are awed by the many stars in the sky. Planet Earth is 
the only home for mankind. We must protect this planet like our own eyes, and 
cherish nature the way we cherish life," Xi said.

China's latest five-year plan also paves the way for its promise of peaking 
carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The 
14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) vows to lower energy consumption per unit of 
gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 
13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, during the next five-year period.

In the past 10 years, China has ranked first globally in terms of the increase 
in forest resources, with its afforestation area exceeding 70 million hectares. 
Meanwhile, 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystem types and 85 percent of key wild 
animal populations are under effective state protection. China has also pledged 
to increase the forest stock volume by six billion cubic meters by 2030 from 
the 2005 level and bring its total installed capacity of wind and solar power 
to over 1.2 billion kilowatts.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pbnX22aokU

SOURCE: CCTV+
Translations

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