New quality productive forces are green productive forces in themselves. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that green and low-carbon development should be taken as the fundamental solution to ecological and environmental issues, accelerating the formation of green modes of production and lifestyles, and strengthening the green foundation of high-quality development. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has built the world’s largest and most complete new energy industrial chain, providing important support for energy transformation and industrial upgrading. In today’s “Perceiving Ecological Change,” let’s see how green productive forces are changing production and life.
On a winding mountain road nearly 2,000 meters above sea level in Guizhou, Qiao Xujun is carefully transporting a wind turbine blade over 100 meters long.
Qiao Xujun, Leader of SANY Renewable Energy Blade Lifting Fleet: In the past, blades were just over 40 meters long and were easy to transport. Now, as blades get longer and longer, the difficulty keeps increasing step by step.
The high-precision positioning system on the fleet’s transport equipment records changes in wind power construction locations over the past decade. In 2015, they could only depart from three manufacturing bases, with just 14 routes throughout the year. Since 2022, eight new bases have gradually been added in mountainous areas, coastal regions, and the Three-North region, and the fleet has begun traveling more frequently to farther destinations. Today, nearly 40% of the vehicles appear in places such as Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.
From an altitude of 10,000 meters, these regional changes can be clearly seen. In the Kubuqi Desert, what was once barren land in 2022 has now grown into stretches of “blue ocean.” In Gansu, 30,000 mirrors light up the desert, storing heat and enabling photovoltaic power generation around the clock. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China’s installed capacity of wind and photovoltaic power has increased 25-fold, and this year it has historically surpassed thermal power installed capacity. China’s share of global clean energy investment has risen from one quarter to one third over the past decade.
Today, green modes of production are transforming countless industries.
At an open-pit coal mine in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, more than 3,000 sensors are monitoring subtle changes in real time. To ensure mining does not affect the mountain structure, slope radar provides millimeter-level monitoring of mountain deformation, while noise monitoring devices sensitively capture environmental sounds. Ten years of continuous sound monitoring data show that the mining environment has improved significantly. In 2015, the area was almost filled only with the roar of diesel vehicles. This year, the arrival of 100 electric unmanned mining trucks has continuously reduced noise levels. With ecological restoration of the mine, the calls of wild animals such as swans and foxes can now be heard.
There are now nearly 5,000 green mines like this in China. Meanwhile, more than 6,000 green factories across the country support over one fifth of the nation’s manufacturing output value.
Green productive forces are reshaping China’s mountains and rivers.
In 2015, charging piles for new energy vehicles first appeared along the entire Beijing-Shanghai Expressway. By 2024, almost all expressways had been covered. At the same time, the number of new energy vehicles in China has increased more than 60-fold compared with 2015. In addition, nearly 80% of the world’s green ships at sea and half of the world’s hydrogen fuel cells now come from China, while the output value of the green and low-carbon industry has exceeded RMB 11 trillion. Green productive forces are not only improving the ecology and environment, but also driving energy transformation and industrial upgrading, bringing a steady stream of new momentum to China’s high-quality development.
Source: CCTV News