We pursue the harmony between man and nature, economic and social harmony, and in layman's terms, it is to "two mountains": both gold and silver, and green waters and green mountains. There is a contradiction between these "two mountains", but they can be dialectically unified. It can be said that in practice, the understanding of the relationship between the "two mountains" has gone through three stages: the first stage is to exchange lucid waters and lush mountains for gold and silver mountains, without considering or rarely considering the carrying capacity of the environment, and blindly asking for resources. At this time, the contradiction between economic development and lack of resources and environmental degradation began to be highlighted, and people realized that the environment is the foundation of our survival and development, and we must keep the green mountains in order to have firewood. The third stage is to realize that lucid waters and lush mountains can bring a steady stream of gold and silver mountains, lucid waters and lush mountains themselves are gold and silver mountains, and the evergreen trees we plant are cash cows, and ecological advantages become economic advantages, forming a harmonious and unified relationship. This stage is a higher realm, which embodies the requirements of the scientific concept of development and the concept of developing a circular economy and building a resource-saving and environment-friendly society. The above three stages are the process of changing the mode of economic growth, the process of continuous progress of the concept of development, and the process of continuous adjustment and harmony of the relationship between man and nature.

——"Looking at the Ecological Environment from the "Two Mountains"" (March 23, 2006) from "Zhijiang New Language"

Further reading:

"Lucid waters and lush mountains" and "gold and silver mountains", two commonplace words and two profound images, vividly interpret the relationship between economic development and environmental protection. The development concept implied by these "two mountains" not only leads the development of Zhejiang, but also becomes a national guide.

In August 2005, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, put forward the scientific assertion that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" when he inspected Yucun Village, Anji County, Zhejiang. The bamboo sea in Anji, Zhejiang Province is a symbol of the beautiful countryside, and the filming location of the famous director Ang Lee's film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is here, which makes Zhejiang Anji famous in one fell swoop, and there is an endless stream of tourists who come to visit the Bamboo Sea. When Xi Jinping came to Anjiyu Village for inspection, he spoke highly of the village's practice of closing the mining area and taking the road of green development. Pan Wenge, director of the Yucun village committee, remembers vividly that at a symposium held in the humble village committee meeting room, Xi Jinping warned cadres and the masses to "not be obsessed with the development model of the past", and proposed for the first time that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". Today, Yucun's annual tourism income has reached 15 million yuan, which is five times more than the amount of stone sold in the mining area more than 10 years ago. The changes in the green development of Yucun have become the most vivid evidence of the important concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets".

For more than ten years, the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" has led the development of Zhejiang, and an important aspect of the "88 Strategy" proposed by Xi Jinping when he was the secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee is to give full play to Zhejiang's ecological advantages and build a "green Zhejiang". Lucid waters and lush mountains are not only the "golden business card" of Zhejiang, but also the "cash cow" and "cornucopia" of Zhejiang's sustainable development. After Xi Jinping became general secretary, he emphasized on many occasions that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", making green development a broad consensus of the whole society.

The metaphor of "lucid waters and lush mountains" and "golden mountains and silver mountains" illustrates the relationship between economic development and environmental protection. Xi Jinping believes that the relationship between gold and silver mountains and lucid waters and lush mountains is not a mutually negating relationship, and one cannot be ignored at the expense of the other, but should be integrated and harmonious. Crossing the wrong stage of exchanging lucid waters and lush mountains for gold and silver mountains, crossing the hesitation and contradiction stage of lucid waters and lush mountains and gold and silver mountains, and reaching the integration realm of lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, the three stages proposed by Xi Jinping are propositions that every local development should think deeply about.