Visitors take a selfie at the Longqi Mountain National Nature Reserve in Sanming last month. YANG ENUO/FOR CHINA DAILY

Cultivation

Last year, Xu Lianghui, a native of Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, invested more than 8 million yuan in the village to build a 53-hectare base for the cultivation of navel oranges.

"The water and the soil in the village have been tested and shown to be of good quality for planting the oranges," Xu said, adding that the area's many environmental advantages have helped the development of his agribusiness.

Speaking of Changkou's development over the past 20 years, Zhang, the village head, said: "If we had sold the trees on the mountain long ago, we might have lost the cash cow that has delivered long-term benefits to the villagers. Future generations would have regarded us as sinners."

Changkou has become a success story in Sanming, and even Fujian, by sticking to green development as China advances Xi's vision of building an ecological civilization as part of the national development strategy.

Constitution

The vision was written into the Party Constitution at the 18th Communist Party of China National Congress in 2012.

Xi's concept calls for conservation and protection to be prioritized to ensure harmony between humans and nature, and for adherence to innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development. It also sees a sound environment as the most inclusive benefit to people's well-being.

Under the guidance of this philosophy, the nation has started undertaking central environmental inspections, introduced guidelines to control air, water and soil pollution, and published its own plans to realize the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is also implementing a national plan to tackle climate change.

Sanming provides a good example of China's ambition. It has been transformed into a green city from a major industrial base for iron, coke, carbides, chemical fertilizers, cement and plastic products.

In recent years, more than 170 mines have been closed and a law enforcement team has been established to crack down on illegal mining.

Green industries such as tourism and healthcare are being developed in the city, while traditional industries are switching to clean production methods.

During the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 8, Sanming received 4.22 million tourists, which generated revenue of 2.5 billion yuan.

With China's economy transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development, construction of the ecological civilization has entered a critical phase.

It's one in which authorities strive to meet people's growing demand for a beautiful environment at a time when China is capable of addressing such prominent issues, observers said.

Zhang, the village head, said: "For the people of Changkou, putting the environmental good first has become a principle that must be upheld during our high-quality development. We are confident we will live better lives and follow the right path."