BEIJING - China has stepped up efforts over the past 20 years to build an ecological economic system, fostering new growth drivers and advantages for development through high-level environmental protection, according to a think tank report released on Sunday.

Titled "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains for Beautiful China and World: China's Ecological Civilization Concept and Practice, and How They Inspire the World", the report was jointly released by Xinhua Institute, a think tank affiliated with Xinhua News Agency, and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

China has charted a development path that converts the advantages of ecological resources into economic benefits by protecting the ecological environment, maintaining ecological functions, and leveraging ecological compensation mechanisms, the report said.

It added that the country has also designed a pathway to spur economic development by fully leveraging ecological advantages, including developing eco-agriculture, eco-tourism and eco-industry.

The report noted that China leads the world in both green credit and green bond issuance. As of the end of 2024, China's outstanding balance of domestic and foreign currency green loans stood at 36.6 trillion yuan ($5.13 trillion), and its total green bond issuance exceeded 4.1 trillion yuan.

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The report expounds on China's innovative approach in ecological conservation and its global impact, providing a detailed introduction of the historical background, core views, and great significance of the Chinese concept "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", as well as the concept's theoretical innovation, its practices in China, and its global valuea;. 

The report also pointed out that China has contributed its wisdom, solutions and strength to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and the advancement of sustainable development for mankind.

China has demonstrated the global value of the Chinese concept by solidifying global green consensus, stimulating the vitality of green transition, leading global environmental governance and jointly building a green Belt and Road, according to the report.

In advancing the global green energy transition, China's accelerated development of the new energy sector has enriched global supply and alleviated global inflationary pressures. For ten years in a row, China has led the world in both photovoltaic and wind power installations, contributing more than 45 percent of the growth in global non-fossil energy consumption, the report noted.

Meanwhile, China has partnered with over 100 countries and regions in green energy projects, with a large number of landmark energy initiatives and small-scale, people-benefiting projects taking root, effectively addressing electricity shortages and high costs in the host countries, according to the report.

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China's practices have proven that developing countries are fully capable of finding a balance between environmental protection and development and China has provided them with a pathway for their reference, the report said.