【专栏】中国人用战争的勇气消灭阻碍美好生活的敌人（中英双语）

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编者按：经济与生态的平衡之战并没有结束。中国人民大学重阳金融研究院执行院长王文在环球时报英文版第55篇“变局”专栏中表示，中国人对生态环境治理的决心是坚定的，世界各国也应该以变化、发展的眼光看中国。本期人大重阳君为您推荐专栏的英文版、中文译文。

本文英文版在环球时报的版面截图

　　近日回兰州讲学，发现这座位于中国地理版图的中心点、黄河穿城而过的甘肃省会城市，美丽得令人窒息。我沿着黄河北岸远眺，风景丝毫不亚于多瑙河畔的布达佩斯。母校兰州大学的校园，秋意盎然，树叶泛黄，蓝天白天映衬下，中轴线由西向东，简直就是一个经典的旅游网红打卡地。

　　这早已不是我记忆中的那个兰州了。23年前，我从江南水乡来这里念大学时，兰州空气糟糕得让人觉得恐怖。每到秋天，这个东西狭长近100公里的城市就被混沌空气所笼罩。当时流行的一个笑话是，美国卫星愣是发现不了兰州，以为中国发明了什么武器能把整座城市隐蔽。

　　我记得，当年冬天，每天擤鼻涕，都能擤出半个小拇指大的鼻衄。据说，兰州居民的肺里一个冬天能吸进两个蜂窝煤。那样的兰州自然被西方媒体评为“世界最污染的城市”之一。但现在，全球最污染城市名单里早已找不到兰州。

　　兰州的空气变化，其实只是中国诸多城市变化的一个缩影。十年前，北京一到冬天就会有巨大雾霾，但现在已完全变了样。IQair AirVisual在2019年发布《世界空气质量报告》中，中国已跌出国家平均PM2.5浓度排行榜的前十位。

　　兰州的污染惨状，除了自然环境原因外，主要源于以往过于追求经济增长的政策。20年前，兰州市内有许多重化工企业，市民冬天烧煤取暖。但现在全变了，许多重污染的工厂关停或改造，冬天取暖用天然气代替煤。

　　甘肃省长唐仁健与我们会面时透露，GDP紧箍咒可松一松，但生态环境保护的紧箍咒一刻也不能收。他还透露，这些年来大力整治生态环境，甘肃光在祁连山一带就发现了346个生态环境问题，现在一一得到整改。

　　可见，中国人对生态环境治理的决心是坚定的，也是高效的。1903年开始的洛杉矶空气污染整整持续了50年才得到彻底治理；1952年伦敦烟雾事件的治理也耗了10多年，但中国对生态环境保护的追赶要快得多。

　　这些年，在中国各个城市，常常看到以“空气保卫战”、“土壤修复战”、“水质达标战”等为题，用一种战争的勇气，志在消灭那些损害中国人美好生活的敌人。

　　不得不承认，这场战争“代价”是巨大的。中国经济增长从年均11%(2003-2011年)下降到年均6.5%（2012-2019年）。但获得收益却是相当值得的。蓝天、白天、青山、绿水，中国人对美好生活的享受在过去几年得到了巨大的改变。

　　习近平的一句话现在几乎中国人人都会背：“我们既要青山绿水，也要金山银山。宁要青山绿水，不要金山银山；而且青山绿水就是金山银山。”这句话典型地反映了新时代中国人对经济与生态关系的新认识。

　　经济与生态的平衡之战并没有结束。现在，十四五规划正在酝酿，各个中国城市都提出了新的目标。比如，深圳、包头、徐州等11个城市正在进行“零废”城市的试点，就是通过创新生产和生活模式的构建，动员全民参与，将产生的日常废物进行充分的再生利用，最终达到零废物排放，实现资源、环境、经济和社会的共赢循环利用城市体系。

　　“零废弃（Zero Waste）”概念是1973年美国化学家保罗·帕尔默提出的新概念。在1990年代才逐渐被西方社会所接受。现在仅有少数几个西方城市致力打造“零废社会”，但中国要迎头赶上。

　　最令世界惊讶的是，中国9月提出在2030年前力争实现二氧化碳排放达到峰值，2060年前实现“碳中和”。这比环保最令人推崇的欧洲国家还是要早。

　　“2060年碳中和”目标的提出，是一个决定下一步中国发展的巨大信号，对中国经济结构、能源使用、空气质量甚至地缘政治、全球治理、世界秩序都有重大影响。

　　在这篇新专栏里，我从亲历兰州变化再到中国的更宏大发展目标的提出，就是想向外国读者朋友说明，应该要以变化、发展的眼光看中国。中国天天变化，观察中国的视角也应该时时更新。

以下为英文版

China’s eco-efforts bear healthy social fruits in new environmental era

By Wang Wen

Recently, I went back to Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province, where I studied years ago as a graduate, to give lectures, and I found the city to be breathtakingly beautiful. It is located at the center of China's geographical map with the Yellow River passing through it. One day, I looked far along the north bank of the Yellow River, and the scenery was no less than Budapest on the Danube.

The campus of my alma mater - Lanzhou University - was full of autumn hues. Beneath the blue sky and white clouds, the trees began to turn yellow, making the campus look like a perfect place to make a memorable photo for internet fame. 

However, this is no longer the city I could recall. When I first came here from a well-watered town in southern China for college 23 years ago, the air was extremely terrible there. Residents in Lanzhou used to make fun that they inhaled at least two honeycomb briquettes during winter. The city was rated as one of the "most polluted cities in the world" by Western media. But now it is not on the list anymore.

The improvement of air quality in Lanzhou is just a microcosm of the changes in many cities across China. In the 2019 World Air Quality Report published by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, China has fallen out of the top 10 in the national averages of PM2.5 concentration rankings.

Apart from the natural environment, Lanzhou's pollution mainly stemmed from policies of accelerated industrial output for economic growth. Twenty years ago, there were many heavy chemical enterprises in the city, and the local residents burned coal for heating in winter. But everything has changed now: Many heavily polluting factories have been shut down or renovated. Natural gas is used instead of coal for heating.

Tang Renjian, governor of Gansu, explained that in recent years, efforts have been made to improve the ecological environment in the province. All of the 346 ecological and environmental problems that were found in the Qilian Mountains by Gansu authorities in the past few years have been rectified by local governments. It can be seen that the Chinese people's determination to enhance ecological governance is firm and efficient. 

The air pollution in Los Angeles, starting in 1903, lasted for 50 years before it was thoroughly curbed. It took London more than a decade to control the 1952 smog incident. China's pursuit of environmental protection, by contrast, has taken place at a much faster pace.

In recent years, in various cities in China, people often see slogans that use the word "war" to show courage, such as "air defense war," "soil remediation war," and "water quality compliance war," to eliminate the "enemies" who damage the good life of the Chinese people.

We have to admit that the "cost" of this war is huge. China's economic growth has declined from an average of 11 percent (2003-11) to an average of 6.5 percent (2012-19). But the benefits are quite worth it: the blue sky, daylight, green mountains and green water that are essential for longevity. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping's famous remark that almost everyone in China can recite states: "Clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver." This typically reflects the Chinese people's new understanding of the relationship between economy and ecology.

The battle for the balance between economy and ecology is not over. Now, the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for national economic and social development is in the making. All Chinese cities have put forward new goals. For example, through the creation of innovative production and living models, 11 cities including Shenzhen are mobilizing their residents to fully recycle daily waste. These efforts will eventually reach "zero waste" discharge, so as to realize a win-win recycling urban system that benefits resources, environment, economics, and society.

The term "zero waste" was first used by American chemist Paul Palmer in 1973. It was only in the 1990s that it was gradually accepted by Western society. At present, a handful of Western cities are committed to "zero waste." But China needs to catch up with this movement. What surprised the world the most was China's proposal in September to strive to achieve a peak of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve "carbon neutrality" by 2060. This is far earlier than the targets set by European countries whose environmental protection is highly respected.

The goal of "carbon neutral before 2060" is a huge signal to determine the next step of China's development. This will have a significant impact on China's economic structure, energy use, air quality, and even geopolitics, global governance and the world order.

With my personal feelings of the changes in Lanzhou and the greater development goals of China, I wish to explain to foreign readers that we should look at China from the perspective of dynamics and development. China is changing every day, so new perspectives must regularly be updated when observing it.

（The author is professor and executive dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, and executive director of China-US People-to-People Exchange Research Center. His latest book is Great Power's Long March Road.）

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中国人民大学重阳金融研究院（人大重阳）成立于2013年1月19日，是重阳投资董事长裘国根先生向母校捐赠并设立教育基金运营的主要资助项目。

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