Over 400 guests convened in the Yangtze River Delta on Sunday for the 2025 Global Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development, spotlighting green innovation, sustainable practices and ecological priorities.
The conference featured special reports, parallel forums, and roundtable discussions, bringing together industry leaders and youth delegates from 36 countries and regions. Together, they explored sustainable solutions through engaging discussions on ecological conservation, resource efficiency, and green transition strategies.
"I am quite impressed especially about the restoration that China is doing at the moment along the river, but also along the coast. And also the central government, but the provincial governments are involved into, we can say, the achievement of the carbon neutrality in 2060. If you improve the environment, you improve the daily life of the people, you improve the livelihood. There's a very strong correlation between the quality of your environment and the quality of the life of the people," said Pierre Failler, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Ocean Governance.
According to conference discussions, China has vigorously advanced the transformation and upgrading of its economic, energy, and industrial structures in recent years. By coordinating integrated protection and systematic management of ecosystems—including mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts—the country has significantly improved environmental quality. China has now established the world's largest clean power generation system, green steel production network, and carbon emissions trading market.
"In 2024, China's surface water quality in prefecture-level cities and above reached an excellent rate of 90.4 percent, while over 30 percent of land area was designated for ecological protection. These protected zones now effectively conserve 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74 percent of key national wildlife species, significantly boosting public satisfaction with ecological progress," said Wang Zhibin, director of the Department of Science, Technology and Finance of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
Yangtze River Delta hosts global summit spotlighting green development pathways
