Proposal and Conception
In 1992, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro adopted Agenda 21, which officially put forward the idea of 'Environmental Friendly'; in 2004, the White Paper on Environmental Protection of Japan proposed establishing an environment-friendly society. On October 11, 2005, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth Central Committee of the Party passed the Suggestion of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC) on Making the Eleventh Five-year Plan for National Economy and Social Development (hereinafter referred to as Suggestion). The Suggestion, for the first time, defined building a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society as a strategic task in the long-term plan for national economy and social development. The Suggestion clearly stipulated to take resource conservation as our basic national policy and quicken the pace of building such a society. The Central Committee of CPC has put forward a series of relevant policies in succession since 2007. At the same time cities and towns through the country answer the call and vigorously carry out work of building such a two-oriented society, which has become the consensus of the whole society.
Two-oriented society refers to a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society. A resource-conserving society means that the whole society adopts ways of production, life and consumption in favor of resource conservation, takes comprehensive measures to improve resource utilization efficiency in all fields such as production, circulation and consumption, maximizes the economic and social benefits with minimal resources and then realizes sustainable development of economy and society. An environment- friendly society means that the whole society adopts ways of production, life and consumption in favor of environmental protection and establishes relations of benign interaction and harmonious development between human beings and nature. Resource-conservation and environment friendliness are complementary to each other and it's necessary to combine their connotations into one concept, namely a resource-conserving and environment- friendly society.
Strategic Significance
Building a two-oriented society is a necessary requirement of thoroughly applying the Scientific Outlook on Development and building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, a significant strategic measure to promote sustainable utilization of resources and ensuring economic security, a great driving force to promote harmonious development of human society and the nature, a necessity for meeting economic globalization and dealing with new trade protectionism and an efficient way of enlarging employment and then giving full play to human resources.
Translator: Pang Yuehui
