In February 2019, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the Earth had become considerably greener, with China and India being the primary contributors to this vegetation growth.

This greening was mainly attributed to tree-planting programs in China and intensive agricultural activities in both countries. According to NASA satellite data, China alone was responsible for 25 percent of the global net increase in leaf area from 2000 to 2017.

In late 2020, less than two years after NASA's announcement, China announced it had eradicated absolute poverty. This feat demonstrated that ecological restoration and economic development can be achieved in tandem. Ecological conservation, promoted as part of the country's targeted poverty alleviation campaign, played a big part in this success by helping farmers increase their incomes through sustainable practices.

Economic growth and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive. Instead, protecting the environment is an important path to economic development, and new technologies and resources generated by economic development can further enhance environmental governance.

President Xi Jinping reportedly first came up with the "green is gold" concept in 2005, when he was secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, to illustrate the idea that ecological health is as valuable as economic wealth. During a study tour to a village in Zhejiang, he learned that the area had shut down mines that damaged the environment and switched to tourism as a new growth driver.

But tourism is only part of the story. Integration of the environment with the economy has created huge profitable industries, like the new-energy sector. This is evidenced by the emergence of China's "new three"—electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and photovoltaic products, outshining the "old three" categories of clothing, furniture and household appliances. In 2023, exports of the "new three" amounted to 1.06 trillion yuan ($147 billion), recording a year-on-year increase of 29.9 percent.

As its eco-friendly products go global, China is keen to share its concept of mutually supportive environmental and economic development internationally. It's doing so not only as a form of assistance to countries grappling with similar issues, but also to use the concept itself as a platform to strengthen cooperation, build ties and create a synergy to make the world a better place to live in.