Horticultural expo to boost green living
Expo gives platform for exchange of green ideas
A grand international horticultural exhibition, scheduled to kick off on Monday, is widely seen as the best way to demonstrate China’s achievements and commitment to global ecological construction.
President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony on Sunday evening, calling for the pursuit of harmony between man and nature.
Xi said that the overall balance of the Earth’s ecology should be maintained, so that the starry sky, lush mountains and floral fragrance will be retained for future generations who will enjoy material prosperity at the same time, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets and improving ecological environment is increasing productivity, Xi said.
The theory was first raised by Xi in 2005 during an inspection tour to Anji, East China’s Zhejiang Province. Xi reaffirmed the theory during several inspection tours after the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was convened in 2012.
He proposed embracing simple, moderate, green and low-carbon ways of life, and making the idea of ecological and environmental conservation the mainstream culture in society.
This is the second high-level horticultural expo held in China after the last one was hosted in Kunming, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province in 1999.
The expo is being held at a 503-hectare site at the foot of the Great Wall in Beijing’s Yanqing district, which is a national progress demonstration district and an innovative base for practicing the theory of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” an expo brochure reads.
From Monday until October 7, more than 16 million visitors are expected at the expo, which will host 2,500 activities, including academic conferences, horticulture competitions and flower parades, officials from the organizing committee said at a press conference on Thursday.
Eighty-six countries and regions, as well as 24 international organizations, will display horticultural arts alongside domestic exhibitors from 31 provincial-level administrations, officials said.
The expo will provide opportunities for the world to see what China has achieved as there are many greening programs around Beijing, such as the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, said Ding Yifan, a research fellow of the Institute of World Development at the State Council’s Development Research Center.
“It will also be a platform for different countries to exchange experiences in green development,” Ding said.
The Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program – dubbed the Great Green Wall – was launched in 1978 to halt desertification and provide a green buffer zone from China’s arid northern regions. The project had rehabilitated 33.6 million hectares of desert land as of November 2018, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.
Geng Liwen, an expo volunteer from the Beijing Forestry University, told the Global Times on Sunday that she is happy to see more Chinese people paying attention to the idea of green development. “This will benefit sectors related to forestry, including parks and city planning,” she said.
