On August 15, 2005, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), stated during an inspection in Anji County in northwest part of Zhejiang Province, "Lucid waters and lush mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver."

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, President Xi Jinping has repeatedly provided a systematic and profound interpretation of the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are of great importance to China's modernization drive. This has become the core concept of his ecological civilization thought, and is also one of the most representative and original major theoretical achievements in Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

On June 28, 2023, the third session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress designated August 15 as National Ecological Day, enhancing environmental conservation for the construction of an ecological civilization, and underscoring the commitment to building a beautiful China.

Epochal significance of concept of lucid waters and lush mountains

President Xi Jinping emphasized the need to avoid the old path and the outdated development model. He advocated for efforts to achieve both ecological preservation and economic growth. He said lucid waters and lush mountains are the very "mountains of gold and silver." This concept corrects the misconception that economic growth and environmental protection are mutually exclusive.

Tourists visit Yucun Village in Anji, east China's Zhejiang Province, June 29, 2018. At the entrance of the village stands a towering monument bearing the inscription "lucid waters and lush mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver."