“绿水青山就是金山银山”，经济的高质量发展不能以牺牲环境为代价，这在当代中国已经成为共识。近年来，中国坚持走生态优先、绿色发展之路，这不仅没有阻碍经济发展，反而给经济发展创造了新的机遇。

China's economic growth has long impressed the world with its blistering speed. Now its accelerating green transformation is expected to offer inspiring lessons in coordinating the economy and the natural environment.

长期以来，中国经济的快速增长给世界留下了深刻印象。现在，中国的绿色转型正在加速发展，有望在协调经济和自然环境方面给人们提供积极经验。

blistering[ˈblɪstərɪŋ]：adj.猛烈的；极快的

Ant Forest, a green initiative on the world's leading payment platform Alipay, last week won the 2019 UN Champions of the Earth award for turning the "green good deeds of half a billion people" into real trees planted in some of China's most arid regions.

上周，蚂蚁森林因将“5亿人的绿色善行”转化为在中国最干旱地区种植树木，赢得了2019年联合国“地球卫士奖”。蚂蚁森林是全球领先的支付平台支付宝发起的一项环保行动。

It was not the first time that China won the UN's highest environmental honor for outstanding contributions in terms of a positive transformative impact on the environment.

这并不是中国第一次因对环境产生积极的变革影响，做出突出贡献而获得联合国最高环境荣誉。

Last year, the Zhejiang green rural revival program won the award for inspiration and action for its work to regenerate polluted waterways and damaged lands. In 2017, the Saihanba afforestation community was recognized in the inspiration and action category for transforming degraded land in northern China into a lush paradise.

去年，浙江绿色乡村复兴项目（“千村示范万村整治”工程）因其对受污染的水道和受损土地的修复工作获得“地球卫士奖”中的“激励与行动奖”。2017年，中国北部的塞罕坝机械林场因退耕还林也获得这一奖项。

The awards came amid China's solid progress in curbing pollution, which is a key part of China's "three tough battles" that also include forestalling and defusing major risks and targeted poverty alleviation.

与此同时，中国在控制污染方面取得了坚实的进展，这是中国“三大攻坚战”的关键部分，另外两项是防范化解重大风险和精准脱贫。

The importance attached to the environment is now greater than ever. Policymakers have reiterated that China's modernization is characterized by harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

人们对环境的重视程度比以往任何时候都要高。政策制定者重申，中国现代化的特点是人与自然和谐共处。

China's economic growth has not come without negative consequences for the environment and climate. In the late 1970s, China's economy began expanding, and the expansion accelerated in the following decades, during which problems of environmental pollution also increased.

中国的经济增长也给环境和气候带来了负面影响。20世纪70年代末，中国经济开始扩张，并在随后的几十年里加速发展，在此期间，环境污染问题也日益严重。

To strike a balance between economic boom and environmental burden, the country has strived to wean its economy off excessive environment-damaging development and advance well-coordinated environmental conservation.

为了在经济繁荣和环境负担之间取得平衡，中国努力使经济减少对环境的过度破坏，并促进得以协调发展的环境保护。

wean[wiːn]：vt.使断念；使放弃

In the 1980s, China enshrined environmental protection as a fundamental national policy. The sustainable development strategy was formulated and put into practice in the 1990s. Since 2012, the development of an ecological civilization has gained greater momentum. Now the country follows a maxim illustrated in the catchphrase: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets."

20世纪80年代，中国把环境保护作为一项基本国策。可持续发展战略是在20世纪90年代制定并实施的。2012年以来，生态文明建设取得新进展。如今，中国遵循的理念是：“绿水青山就是金山银山。”

The connection between China's pollution and economic growth has been weakening since 1995, according to new international research published in the Science Advances journal that was based on statistics including economic growth and environmental conditions in China during the 1977-2017 period.

发表在《科学进展》期刊上的一项最新国际研究显示，自1995年以来，中国的污染与经济增长之间的联系一直在减弱。该研究基于1977年至2017年间中国经济增长和环境状况统计数据。

Researchers from five countries also point out that increased environmental awareness and investments in China over the past decade have produced results.

来自5个国家的研究人员还指出，过去10年中国环境意识的提高和投资都取得了成效。

Air quality in China continued to improve with more cities reporting a drop in major pollutant indicators. Surface water quality kept improving in general. In terms of soil pollution control, the country had reduced solid waste imports by 46.5 percent last year.

随着更多城市报告主要污染物指标下降，中国空气质量继续改善。地表水水质总体上一直在改善。在土壤污染控制方面，中国去年减少了46.5%的固体废物进口。

Vigorous environmental protection has injected impetus into related sectors. Total revenue of China's environmental protection industry is expected to surpass 2 trillion yuan in 2020, up from 1.5 trillion yuan in 2018, according to estimates by the China Association of Environmental Protection Industry.

强有力的环境保护促进了相关领域的发展。据中国环境保护产业协会估计，到2020年，中国环保产业总收入有望超过2万亿元人民币，高于2018年的1.5万亿元人民币。

impetus [ˈɪmpɪtəs]：n.动力；促进；冲力

Green finance also took off. In 2018, the country issued a total of 31.2 billion dollars in green bonds, remaining the world's second-largest green bond market, according to the China Central Depository & Clearing Co. and Climate Bonds Initiative.

绿色金融也开始腾飞。根据中央国债登记结算有限责任公司和气候债券倡议组织的数据，2018年，中国共发行了312亿美元（约合人民币2224亿元）的绿色债券，仍然是全球第二大绿色债券市场。

The country announced a plan in 2016 to establish a national green finance mechanism, becoming the first country in the world to do so. It also helped push green finance to be included on the G20 agenda.

2016年，中国成为全球首个宣布建立国家绿色金融机制计划的国家。中国还推动绿色金融纳入二十国集团议程。

In recent years, China has adhered to the path of giving priority to ecology and green development, said Minister of Ecology and Environment Li Ganjie. "Ecological and environmental protection has become an important force and a key to promoting high-quality economic development."

生态环境部部长李干杰表示，近年来，中国坚持走生态优先、绿色发展之路。“生态环境保护已成为推动经济高质量发展的重要力量和抓手。”