Clear waters and green mountains, alternatively green mountains are gold mountains or two mountain theory, refers to a political slogan on environmental policy formulated by

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

(CCP) general secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

. The full slogan is "clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as gold and silver mountains" ( zh, c=綠水青山就是金山银山).

History and usage

Xi Jinping first mentioned the slogan in August 2005 while on tour in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

as its

Party Committee Secretary A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...

. Following the 2012 ascension of Xi as the CCP general secretary ( paramount leader), the slogan has been invoked in various contexts domestically and internationally by Chinese officials, complementing existing emphasis on the achievement of

ecological civilization Ecological civilization is the hypothetical concept that describes the alleged final goal of social and environmental reform within a given society. It implies that the changes required in response to global climate disruption and social injustices ...

. It was given greater emphasis in Chinese state media beginning in 2015, after Xi began to focus more on environmental issues. The slogan was the subject of a short essay question in Beijing for the 2018

gaokao The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the und ...

, generating discussion over the suitability of such an explicitly political topic on the test.

Theory

The Chinese Communist Party-run ''

Beijing Review ''Beijing Review'' (), previously ''Peking Review'', is China's only national news magazine in English, published by the Chinese Communist Party-owned China International Publishing Group. In 2006 it claimed a per-issue circulation of 70,000 and ...

'' maintains that the slogan "reflects a people-centered approach to people's wellbeing, an approach that emphasizes the importance of harmony between man and nature, and embodies the unwavering resolve of the Party and the government to preserve and protect the natural environment." "Clear waters and green mountains" alludes to what Xi observed as phases of economic development in relation to environmentalism. In the first phase, initial industrialization, little regard is given to the environment, which is sacrificed in pursuit of economic growth. As people become more aware of the importance of the environment, they call for its preservation and protection in second phase. Finally, society realizes that "clear waters and green mountains" and "gold and silver mountains" are not mutually exclusive, and in fact the former can bestow the latter.

References

{{Xi Jinping Xi Jinping Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party Environmentalism in China Propaganda in China Slogans 2005 neologisms Environmental sayings

History and usage

Theory

See also

References