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》“安且吉兮”，素有“中國竹鄉”“中國轉椅之鄉”“中國白茶之鄉”等美譽。

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

習近平在擔任浙江省省委書記期間，先后兩次來到安吉調研。2003年4月，習近平在安吉調研生態建設工作時指出，對安吉來說，“生態立縣”是找到了一條正確的發展道路。2005年8月，習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，走出了一條生態美、產業興、百姓富的可持續發展之路，美麗鄉村建設在余村變成了現實。

2008年年初，安吉縣委、縣政府提出建設“中國美麗鄉村”的目標。中共十八大以來，在鄉村振興戰略的引領下，安吉從改善農村人居環境入手，堅持規劃、建設、管理、經營于一體，注重機制創新，抓住環境治理和產業發展兩個關鍵點，不斷推動鄉村美起來、富起來、強起來。2019年6月1日，聯合國助理秘書長、聯合國環境署代理執行主任喬伊斯·姆蘇亞率團隊在安吉考察生態文明建設時表示，在安吉，大家近距離感受“綠水青山就是金山銀山”理念的深刻內涵，親眼見證政府主導，并與社會化力量通力合作開展環境治理，實現經濟從粗放式發展向精細化綠色發展的轉變。

安吉的美麗鄉村建設實踐表明，山區縣的資源在綠水青山，潛力在綠水青山。山區縣的發展可以突破常規模式，即讓綠水青山變成金山銀山，走出一條通過優化生態環境帶動經濟發展的全新道路，實現環境保護與經濟發展雙贏的目標。