According to the report given to the 18th CPC National Congress by Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China"must give high priority to making ecological progress and incorporate it into all aspects and the whole process of advancing economic, political, cultural, and social progress, work hard to build a beautiful country, and achieve lasting and sustainable development of the Chinese nation."

Martin Jacques, author of When China Rules the World, once pointed out that the UK taught the world how to produce in the 19th century, the US showed the world how to consume in the 20th century, and China needs to demonstrate sustainable development in the 21st century.

In other words, the British brought people industrial civilization, and the Americans introduced the information civilization. The Chinese have the chance to lead the world into an ecocivilization era.

Since the 20th century, consumption of resources and energy has been growing exponentially. If this continues, the foundation for industrial civilization will vanish. Environmental pollution and ecological damage have fundamentally affected people's future survival.

Since the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972, the international community has adopted a series of measures to boost environmental protection movement. In 2007, the report to the 17th CPC National Congress proposed building an ecocivilization building, for the first time.

Ecocivilization will bring mankind into a truly civilized era, in which a social system with a complex structure but refined order will be established worldwide.

Means of production, stressing harmony between human and nature, will dominate all walks of social life. People will enjoy the comforts brought by a modern economy on the one hand, and be surrounded by natural landscapes and clean air on the other.

Building an ecocivilization should permeate into economic, political, cultural, social and environmental policies. The growth of green industries should be accelerated. We also need to take stock of our past experience of development, which helps shape the right policies and framework.

Humankind should establish environmentally friendly values and ethics, and reform its current lifestyle based on ecological needs. Meanwhile, people should consciously protect and reasonably use natural resources.

In the international community, a new cooperation platform needs to be set up, advocating global partnerships for the environment. Governments across the world should also regulate their regional ecological environments.

Enterprises also need to have a strong sense of responsibility and strictly implement green regulations. Ordinary people can also actively participate in environmental protection by leading a low-carbon lifestyle.

The author is deputy director of the Beijing Academy of Ecocivilization. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn