The greener the better, horticultural expo shows: China Daily editorial

With more than 110 countries and international organizations participating in the 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition that opens on Monday, it is an ideal platform for highlighting the importance of and promoting the concept of "Live Green, Live Better", which is this year's theme.

Staged over an area of 503 hectares in Beijing's Yanqing district, the expo will foster interaction and help promote dialogue between people of different cultures.

People have practiced the art of gardening since the earliest days of human civilization. Indeed, the hanging gardens of Babylon were known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. According to accounts, the mountain of rising terraces covered in trees and plants was built to ease the heart of Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis, who, coming from a green mountainous land, found the sun-baked flat terrain of Mesopotamia depressing.

More recently, President Xi Jinping has spoken of people's desire for green mountains. Speaking during his visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013, he noted that while people want mountains of gold and silver, they prefer blue waters and hills that are green.

The need for not only golden and silver mountains but also green hills and clean water is now close to Chinese people's hearts, and it guides the country's economic and social development.

The top leadership's insistance on sustainable green development is evident in the inclusion of environmental protection and ecological conservation as evaluation criteria for local officials and in the commitments the country has made as part of the Paris climate accord.

China has made huge progress in making its development greener and more sustainable, since it held its first international horticultural expo in Kunming, Yunnan province, 20 years ago. And over the next 162 days, visitors to the Yanqing expo will be able to not only enjoy a feast for the eyes, but also gain a better appreciation of China's endeavor to realize an ecological civilization.

Likewise, all participating exhibitors have a golden opportunity to show that humans can live in harmony with nature and consolidate the consensus on the need to build a community of ecological conservation.

Horticulture, as an integration of culture and nature, is a common human pursuit, and the exhibition can help nurture greater understanding among different countries, cultures and peoples, by offering the reminder that we are all part of and depend on the same ecosystem, and that green development is the best way to protect the planet, our common home.