China, EU team up on green development

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

Since the China-EU (Baoting) Green and Digital Innovation Zone was launched in December last year, the project has quickly gone on to become a test bed for Sino-European Union collaboration on green technology, digital carbon management, and the burgeoning field of climate-health science.

The digital zero-carbon industrial park in the Baoting Li and Miao autonomous county of South China's island province of Hainan is designed to fuse economic development with sustainability.

The initiative is spearheaded by the China-EU Carbon Neutrality Cooperation Office, whose core mission is to establish two internationally recognized benchmarks: a pilot zone for the mutual recognition of carbon standards between China and Europe, and a practice ground for the Climate and Health Declaration of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the 2025 Friends of the Paris Agreement High-Level Dialogue, a leading global platform for climate change discussions, will be held in Baoting.

"The zone is a transnational, multilevel and multifield joint innovation," said Zheng Xinli, a renowned economist and former deputy director of the Policy Research Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. "It will promote the Hainan Free Trade Port into forming an open, international platform for cooperation on climate and sustainable development while contributing to the UN's climate actions and sustainable development goals."

Mu Kerui, Baoting's Party secretary, said the project allows Baoting to make its mark at both the UN level and within national strategic frameworks. Nationally, the zone is an initiative to support China's dual carbon goals and address global climate change. At the provincial level, it is seen as a flagship practice for developing new quality productive forces and supporting the development of Hainan Free Trade Port's ecological civilization demonstration zone. "For Baoting itself, the project is a pivotal chance to transform its economy and step onto the international stage," he said.

Mu added that research will establish pathways and mechanisms for the mutual recognition of carbon footprint standards between marine and island regions.

So far, the planning teams have outlined 15 industrial projects and 24 specific scenario-based projects to meet the dual targets of economic growth and zero-carbon development. The initial launch area is called the Ningyuan Carbon Neutrality Project, which aims to become an international destination for tackling climate change and has been designated as one of Hainan province's key ecological civilization demonstration zone projects.