Anji County: Cherishing Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains

Anji is a county in northwest Zhejiang Province. It is located in the center of the Yangtze River Delta region, where the Huangpu River originates. Covering an area of 1,886 square kilometers, Anji has a population of 470,000. It is home to abundant bamboo forests and produces white tea.

Anji had fallen behind in development. Still a poor county in the late 20th century, it tried to escape poverty through industrial development. Paper mills, chemical plants, building material factories, and printing and dyeing businesses mushroomed. The local GDP skyrocketed, but the local environment suffered serious damage.

Anji began to improve its environment in 2001. It decided to abandon the traditional model of "destruction first, restoration second," and adopt a new model. Notable results were achieved and the environment of its villages improved. But its economic performance still lagged behind other counties.

Xi Jinping visited Anji twice during his tenure as secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee. On his first trip in April 2003, Xi pointed out that environmental conservation would be the right path for Anji. When he visited Yucun Village in Anji in August 2005, he put forward the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

Over the years that followed, Anji has acted upon this vision, and pursued sustainable development to provide a pleasant environment, prosperous businesses and a better life to local residents. A beautiful countryside has become a reality in Yucun.

In early 2008, the local authorities set the goal of building Anji into a beautiful county. Guided by China's rural revitalization strategy, they started by improving rural living environments, and integrated planning, construction, management and operations. They engaged in institutional innovations, and focused on both environmental improvement and business development, to make the countryside beautiful and prosperous.

Joyce Msuya, UN assistant secretary-general and UNEP acting executive director, came to visit Anji on June 1, 2019 on an environmental research tour. She and her party experienced in person here what was meant by the idea that green is gold. They saw how the local government had worked with the private sector on environmental improvements and promoted a shift from extensive growth to refined, green development.

Anji's success in building a green countryside demonstrates that for mountainous counties, green mountains are invaluable assets, which also offer them great potential for development. These counties may abandon the conventional approach to development and pursue a brand-new path of turning lush mountains into mountains of gold and driving economic growth with environmental improvement.

“綠水青山就是金山銀山”的安吉模式

安吉縣，位于浙江省西北部，地處長三角地理中心，是上海黃浦江的源頭、杭州都市圈重要的西北節(jié)點，縣域面積1886平方公里，戶籍人口47萬。安吉建縣于公元185年，縣名取自《詩經(jīng)》“安且吉兮”，素有“中國竹鄉(xiāng)”“中國轉(zhuǎn)椅之鄉(xiāng)”“中國白茶之鄉(xiāng)”等美譽。

在選擇發(fā)展道路時，安吉曾走過彎路。20世紀(jì)末，作為浙江貧困縣之一的安吉，為脫貧致富走上了“工業(yè)強縣”之路，造紙、化工、建材、印染等企業(yè)相繼崛起，盡管GDP一路高速增長，但對生態(tài)環(huán)境造成了巨大破壞。2001年，安吉確立了“生態(tài)立縣”的發(fā)展戰(zhàn)略，下決心改變先破壞后修復(fù)的傳統(tǒng)發(fā)展模式，開始對新的發(fā)展方式進行探索和實踐，并開展了村莊環(huán)境整治活動。通過有效整治，安吉的生態(tài)環(huán)境有了極大的改善，但經(jīng)濟發(fā)展速度還是明顯落后于周邊地區(qū)，依然是浙江貧困縣和欠發(fā)達(dá)縣之一。

習(xí)近平在擔(dān)任浙江省省委書記期間，先后兩次來到安吉調(diào)研。2003年4月，習(xí)近平在安吉調(diào)研生態(tài)建設(shè)工作時指出，對安吉來說，“生態(tài)立縣”是找到了一條正確的發(fā)展道路。2005年8月，習(xí)近平在安吉縣余村首次提出了“綠水青山就是金山銀山”的科學(xué)論斷。十余年來，安吉堅定踐行“綠水青山就是金山銀山”理念，走出了一條生態(tài)美、產(chǎn)業(yè)興、百姓富的可持續(xù)發(fā)展之路，美麗鄉(xiāng)村建設(shè)在余村變成了現(xiàn)實。

2008年年初，安吉縣委、縣政府提出建設(shè)“中國美麗鄉(xiāng)村”的目標(biāo)。中共十八大以來，在鄉(xiāng)村振興戰(zhàn)略的引領(lǐng)下，安吉從改善農(nóng)村人居環(huán)境入手，堅持規(guī)劃、建設(shè)、管理、經(jīng)營于一體，注重機制創(chuàng)新，抓住環(huán)境治理和產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展兩個關(guān)鍵點，不斷推動鄉(xiāng)村美起來、富起來、強起來。2019年6月1日，聯(lián)合國助理秘書長、聯(lián)合國環(huán)境署代理執(zhí)行主任喬伊斯·姆蘇亞率團隊在安吉考察生態(tài)文明建設(shè)時表示，在安吉，大家近距離感受“綠水青山就是金山銀山”理念的深刻內(nèi)涵，親眼見證政府主導(dǎo)，并與社會化力量通力合作開展環(huán)境治理，實現(xiàn)經(jīng)濟從粗放式發(fā)展向精細(xì)化綠色發(fā)展的轉(zhuǎn)變。

安吉的美麗鄉(xiāng)村建設(shè)實踐表明，山區(qū)縣的資源在綠水青山，潛力在綠水青山。山區(qū)縣的發(fā)展可以突破常規(guī)模式，即讓綠水青山變成金山銀山，走出一條通過優(yōu)化生態(tài)環(huán)境帶動經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的全新道路，實現(xiàn)環(huán)境保護與經(jīng)濟發(fā)展雙贏的目標(biāo)。