Harmony with Nature and Sustainable Development

As the bedrock and lifeblood of a community of all life on Earth, biodiversity constitutes a vital foundation for human survival and development. Since the 1990s, however, it has faced threats on a global level, such as species extinction and habitat degradation, which have prompted worldwide reflection on the relationship between environment and development and the imperative of biodiversity conservation. In consideration of these circumstances, the global community worked together to conclude the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, marking a new chapter in the global effort to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

Currently, biodiversity conservation faces severe challenges. As humanity cherishes living in harmony with nature, it needs to act decisively to halt and reverse the accelerating loss of biodiversity. As one of the first Parties to sign and ratify the CBD, China has spearheaded historic achievements under the Convention, offering Chinese solutions to biodiversity conservation and driving the improvement of the global environmental governance system. In doing so, it has demonstrated its role as a steadfast participant, major contributor, and leading force in global environmental governance. 

I. Taking the lead in building a community of all life on Earth and driving the CBD toward a historic achievement

For three consecutive years, President Xi Jinping has delivered keynote speeches at major international biodiversity conferences, expounding on the critical importance of protecting biodiversity and building a community of all life on Earth. In these speeches, he has called for creating a world where humanity and nature coexist in harmony, economic growth and environmental protection advance in a coordinated way, and all countries develop together. To this end, he has proposed four initiatives: forging worldwide consensus on biodiversity conservation; advancing the global biodiversity agenda; driving green development through biodiversity conservation; and upholding a fair and equitable international order for biodiversity conservation. Moreover, he has announced concrete measures China will take to advance ecological progress and foster a community of all life on Earth. All of this has elevated global biodiversity governance to new heights.

The leaders’ summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, October 12, 2021. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER JIN LIWANG

It was announced at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP13) in 2016 that China would assume the COP15 presidency and then hand over this rotating presidency to Colombia at the opening of COP16 in 2024. During this period, China made extensive efforts and remarkable contributions to advancing global biodiversity conservation. As the longest-serving COP presidency in the history of the CBD, China demonstrated its extraordinary vision and perseverance in convening COP15 successfully with fruitful results.

In October 2021, Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China, welcomed delegates from around the world to participate in COP15. As the host country of COP15, China translated its highest level political commitment into the strongest possible practical actions, driving forward the CBD agenda and urging all Parties to sustain the positive momentum of global biodiversity governance together. Through this effort, the Convention adopted such high-level political resolutions as the Kunming Declaration and the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), among other decisions. Collectively, these instruments chart the course for global biodiversity governance up to 2030 and beyond, being recognized internationally as historic milestones in reversing the accelerated loss of biodiversity worldwide. 

At the first part of COP15, President Xi announced China’s initiative to establish the Kunming Biodiversity Fund and committed an initial contribution of 1.5 billion yuan (approximately US$210 million). This concrete pledge exemplifies China’s sense of responsibility and unwavering dedication to global biodiversity efforts and helps build confidence in the worldwide conservation agenda. By setting pragmatic targets and providing a well-defined roadmap, COP15 has earned high recognition and widespread acclaim from the international community and left an impression of China’s impact on global biodiversity governance. UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke highly of China’s leadership during its COP15 presidency and hailed the GBF as a historic turning point that brings new hope for humanity and nature.

To further consolidate political will and inject political impetus, China launched the Action Initiative for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2023, which was met with widespread international support. The initiative aims to create a voluntary cooperation platform for Parties and stakeholders that reflects their political will and promotes collective action concerning global environmental challenges, particularly biodiversity loss. In order to ensure steady progress is made with the initiative, China has successively hosted dedicated events at multiple international forums, including the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly and CBD COP sessions. To date, 26 Parties to the Convention and relevant international organizations have formally endorsed the initiative.

At COP16 in October 2024, China continued to demonstrate leadership by proposing a step-by-step, incremental reform plan for the CBD financial mechanism, driving the North-South toward a consensus on funding. The Executive Council of the Kunming Biodiversity Fund approved the Fund’s first batch of 9 projects spanning 15 developing countries. The Fund has made tangible contributions to achieving the long-term goals and action targets of the GBF and advancing biodiversity conservation in developing countries. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, praised China’s continued excellence in biodiversity, remarking that she was deeply impressed by the numerous projects in which China was involved.

II. Providing feasible solutions for the world through China’s practice

Thanks to its vast and diverse territory encompassing both land and sea, China features a complex and varied landscape and climate. This has nurtured rich and unique ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity, making China one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. With this natural endowment, Chinese civilization has cultivated over millennia the environmental wisdom embodied in ideas such as “Man is an integral part of nature” and “Dao follows the laws of nature.” This provides profound cultural foundations for China's biodiversity conservation. 

China has elevated biodiversity conservation to a national strategy. It has continuously strengthened ecological conservation and restoration, carried out major dedicated projects, and improved biodiversity governance systems, thereby establishing a comprehensive, collaborative framework for biodiversity conservation. Through these efforts, China has exemplified its approach and contributed to advancing global biodiversity conservation and reinforcing the critical foundation for humanity’s survival and development.

Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets

A healthy ecological environment is both a natural asset and a source of economic wealth. Since the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets was introduced in 2005, regions across China have pioneered multiple pathways to transform ecological value into economic gains. Such strategies include conserving green assets to generate economic returns, expanding green investments to ensure sustainable growth, converting ecological resources into tangible wealth, and harnessing ecological advantages to fuel economic growth. Additionally, innovative practices such as eco-markets and eco-tourism have also unlocked the boundless economic value of a healthy environment.

Through demonstration projects, China has established 572 eco-civilization demonstration zones in 7 batches and 240 innovation bases for practicing the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. These initiatives have effectively transformed ecological advantages into drivers of development. Taking account of environmental carrying capacity and observing the laws of nature, China has developed a series of distinctive practices and replicable models in such fields as ecological conservation compensation, trading of ecological rights, transfer of resource property rights, and eco-industry development.

Taking a holistic and systematic approach to the protection and conservation of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and desert ecosystems

The Horqin Sandy Land in Northeastern China is reclaiming its former grassland scenery, while the Taklimakan Desert, the world’s second-largest shifting sand desert, is also being encircled by a green belt of windbreak barriers. The populations of giant pandas and 300 other rare and endangered wildlife species are on the increase. It is evident that China’s large-scale, integrated conservation of key ecosystems and rare and endangered species has written a remarkable chapter in global environmental protection. China also completed the nationwide demarcation of its ecological conservation redlines in 2023, which encircle a total area of approximately 3.19 million square kilometers. Of this, about 3.04 million square kilometers are on land, accounting for more than 30% of the country’s total land area and encompassing all 35 biodiversity conservation priority zones and over 90% of China’s typical ecosystem types. Furthermore, China has made sustained efforts in developing the national park-based nature reserve system, including setting up the first batch of five national parks, such as the Sanjiangyuan (Three-River-Source) National Park and Giant Panda National Park, and establishing the country’s first national botanical garden. Expansive land afforestation programs have been effectively carried out, with the cumulative area of restored and rehabilitated land exceeding 66.7 million hectares. China now boasts a forest coverage rate exceeding 25% and stands as a global leader in both forest growth rate and total cultivated forest area.

Collaborative governance of biodiversity

By adopting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach to biodiversity governance, China has fostered a new model that is led by the government, engages with enterprises, and includes participation by the general public. China has established a coordination mechanism for biodiversity conservation under the central government in efforts to strengthen inter-departmental collaboration, implement tiered responsibility systems, and intensify management, investment, and oversight, thereby providing strong institutional guarantee for biodiversity governance. China issued the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2023–2030) (NBSAP) in 2024 and Action Plan for Key Biodiversity Protection Projects (2025–2030) in 2025, which have provided guidance and a clear direction for biodiversity governance. China has also established a China Business and Biodiversity Partnership (CBBP) mechanism to encourage enterprises to adopt biodiversity-friendly production and operation practices, accelerate green transformation, and develop sustainable value chains for sustainable development.

III. Improving the global environmental governance system

Humanity is a community with a shared future, where we share in each other’s happiness and misfortune. Only by standing united, combining our unique strengths, and pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation can we achieve true harmony between humanity and nature. Guided by the philosophy of unity in diversity, China has remained committed to advancing international cooperation in ecological conservation, addressing global environmental challenges, and fostering a community of all life on Earth so as to secure a sustainable future where humanity and nature thrive together in harmony.

Since elevating biodiversity conservation to a national strategy, China has scored remarkable achievements in this field, providing the world with Chinese solutions for building a community of all life on Earth. The photos show the following:
1. Birds in Shennongjia Forestry District, Hubei Province. CNS / PHOTO BY YU JIE
2. A snub-nosed monkey at the Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER HU CHAO
3. Short-finned pilot whales swimming in waters east of Hainan Island. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER ZHANG LIYUN
4. Siberian tigers at the Siberian Tiger Park, Heilongjiang Province. PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER ZHANG TAO

Adjacent to the Hungary-Serbia Railway, the clay embankments of the vast Hungarian Plain are embellished with neatly clustered sand martin nests that are home to hundreds of birds. During construction, Chinese engineers implemented meticulous measures to preserve this avian sanctuary. This act of goodwill has earned widespread praise from the local community, epitomizing the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) commitment to harmonizing infrastructure development with ecological conservation. Guided by the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration and the vision of green development, China, as the initiator of the BRI, supports the sustainable development of BRI partners by promoting broad cooperation in infrastructure, trade, investment, cultural exchanges, and other fields. To this end, China has established the BRI International Green Development Coalition and launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development with 31 participating countries. By promoting the application of eco-friendly technologies and industrial models and facilitating the exchange of biodiversity conservation experiences, China has pooled wisdom and injected momentum into global biodiversity conservation efforts.

Furthermore, by leveraging multi-dimensional cooperation frameworks such as China-ASEAN, Lancang-Mekong, and China-Africa environmental cooperation, China is working to forge a new model of South-South cooperation on the environment. Through joint conservation programs, cross-border ecological corridors, and expanded cooperation in environmental industries and technologies, China is advancing international cooperation to systematically address the challenges of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. By promoting a multi-dimensional cooperation framework based on government leadership of various countries, regional collaboration, and public participation, China is guiding the transformation in biodiversity governance from a shared vision to institutional innovation.

“We have been working for one and the same goal, that is, to build a just world of common development.” President Xi noted in a speech at the 19th G20 Summit in November 2024. To build such a world, he believes that we must support developing countries in adopting sustainable production and lifestyles, properly respond to challenges like biodiversity loss, improve global ecological governance, and build an eco-friendly economy. China is a steadfast champion and active practitioner of global development. We will remain committed to multilateralism and make concrete contributions toward practical and effective international instruments. With an open mindset and through concrete actions, we will advance global biodiversity conservation that is effective, inclusive, and sustainable. Embracing a broad-minded approach, we will promote the reform of the global environment governance system, so as to inject more positive energy into the building of a community of all life on Earth.

Huang Runqiu is Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. 

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 11, 2025)