昆工看天下

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species (plants, animals and microorganisms) in their natural environments and the aggregate of the related ecological processes. It is measured on three levels: genes, species and ecosystems. Biodiversity is the basis for human survival and development and has a direct bearing on our wellbeing. Humans must respect nature and follow its ways. We must conserve biodiversity to protect nature and live in harmony with it.

China’s land and sea territories are both vast; its complex terrain and diverse climate gave birth to unique ecosystems, abundant species, and rich genetic variety. As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, China has a profound understanding of biodiversity, as manifest in traditional Chinese culture and these aphorisms: “Man is an integral part of nature”; “Dao follows the laws of nature”; and “All beings are equal”. China, as one of the first countries to sign and approve the Convention on Biological Diversity, has always attached great importance to biodiversity conservation and preserves biodiversity with creative and up-to-date measures, achieving substantial progress on a distinctively Chinese path of conservation.

To realize the Beautiful China initiative under a new situation, China is improving the measures for biodiversity conservation and creating new frameworks for this purpose. In its pursuit of harmony between humanity and nature, between individuals, and between the individual and society, China endeavors to create a virtuous circle for all-round development and prolonged prosperity for all.

Seeking green development and sustainable utilization of bio-resources. China cherishes the principle that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and sees biodiversity as the foundation, objective and means of sustainable development. It has endeavored to promote the efficient and sustainable utilization of bio-resources, to allow nature to restore itself. It promotes green ways of life and work, and seeks development opportunities while preserving nature, to achieve win-win results in both biodiversity conservation and high-quality development.

China advances biodiversity conservation and development in parallel. It has proposed and implemented measures such as building the national parks system and setting ecological conservation red lines (ECRLs), strengthened in-situ and ex-situ conservation, reinforced biological security management, improved the eco-environment, and coordinated the conservation of biodiversity with green development, thereby making significant gains in protecting biodiversity.

China is setting up protected areas (PAs) and opening national parks on a trial basis, to create a PA framework with a focus on national parks. It was the first in the world to propose and implement the red line strategy for ecological conservation, and has designated priority areas in biodiversity conservation. These measures have contributed to the conservation of key natural ecosystems, biological resources, and habitats for key species.

Gradually improving the ex-situ conservation system. China has set up a relatively complete ex-situ conservation system including botanical gardens, wildlife rehabilitation and breeding centers, germplasm resource centers, and gene banks. To date, China has built a total of about 200 botanical gardens and arboretums exhibiting 23,000 species of plants, and 250 wildlife rehabilitation and breeding centers where over 60 types of rare and endangered wild animal are successfully bred.

China attaches great importance to biosecurity, and has included it in the national security system. The Biosecurity Law was promulgated and came into force in 2021. There is systematic planning for biosecurity risk control and governance. Efforts have been made to improve the mechanism for preventing the invasion of alien species, promote the sound development of biotechnologies, and strengthen the protection, supervision and regulation of biogenetic resources. The aim is to constantly improve national biosecurity governance.

China endeavors to advance social and economic development within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems. Measures have been taken to transform the economic growth model, encourage green and low-carbon ways of life, and coordinate efforts in biodiversity conservation and high-quality development.

Biodiversity conservation has been elevated to a national strategy in China, and incorporated into mid- and long-term plans of all regions and fields. There has been a drive to improve the legal and policy framework, strengthen technical support and the training of high-caliber personnel, expand oversight on law enforcement, and encourage public participation in conserving biodiversity, thus improving biodiversity governance.

Facing the global challenge of biodiversity loss, all countries form a community of shared future. China firmly practices multilateralism and actively carries out international cooperation on biodiversity conservation through extensive consultations to build consensus. It is contributing solutions to global biodiversity conservation and working together with the international community to build a shared future for humanity and nature.

China is an advocate of multilateralism. It engages in extensive cooperation and exchanges, pooling global forces in biodiversity conservation and governance. With the help of multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and South-South Cooperation, China has provided support for biodiversity conservation in developing countries and is striving to build a shared future for all life on Earth.

The Earth is the homeland of humanity and we should protect it together. Biodiversity is the foundation for human survival and development, and the bloodline of all life on Earth. Facing the global challenge of biodiversity loss, humanity is one community that shares one and the same future.

China will always stand guard for our harmonious and beautiful planet for all life and contribute to its wellbeing with action. It will work together with the international community on a new model of global biodiversity governance that is fairer and more reasonable, with each member contributing its share, so as to realize the worldwide vision of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. It will continue to help build a global community of shared future, and move forward into better times with the rest of the world.