Significant progress has been made towards sustainable development on a global scale over the past two decades. In 2015, the 193 member states of the United Nations reached a consensus on the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in which they agreed by 2030 to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that cover a variety of social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainable development. Sustainable development has become the common goal of humankind.

China attaches great importance to sustainable development. In 1992, the Chinese government put forward the “Ten Major Measures for China's Environment and Development”, clearly pointing out that sustainable development is an inevitable choice for China's present and future. Two years later, China released “China's Agenda 21”, proposing the overall strategy, major measures and action plans for China's sustainable development. Sustainable development as a major strategy for the socialist modernization of China was officially established during the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1997. Sustainable development has been incorporated into a series of major decisions and strategies regarding economic and social development in China since the very beginning of the new century.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, from the strategic point of view to realize the great rejuvenation of the nation, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core brought forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, new strategies, and new requirements for the development of ecological civilization based on which Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization was formed. The thought clearly states that China must unswervingly implement the sustainable development strategy, adhere to the path of green,low-carbon and circular development, uphold the basic national policy of saving resources and protecting the environment, and contribute to the promotion of sustainable development globally.

The road to achieve sustainable development is long and winding and requires support from innovative research across all disciplines. An urgent challenge to be addressed at present is how to effectively promote the exchange and integration of sustainable development-related research fields in various disciplines to form a knowledge system with sustainable development at its core, and facilitate the application and implementation of cutting-edge science and technology, to effectively support sustainable development decision-making.

The launch of the international journal Sustainable Horizons aims to build an open-access, high-level international platform to publish the latest developments in science, technology, policy, and strategy related to global sustainable development, and to communicate and integrate multidisciplinary research in one place. The journal is committed to disseminating new scientific discoveries and knowledge to policymakers and the public to advance sustainable development in China and worldwide.

I sincerely hope that the launch of the international journal Sustainable Horizons can further strengthen the communication and dissemination of frontier scientific and technological knowledge in sustainable development, accelerate the systematic discipline formation in sustainable development, advance innovation in sustainable development globally, promote the research and application of new science, new technologies, and new strategies, accelerate the formation of green and low-carbon production and lifestyles, and ultimately contribute to the realization of the SDGs set by the United Nations.

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引用格式： 

Huang R. The Road to China's Sustainable Development. Sustainable Horizons. 2022. 1, 100004.

作者简介：

黄润秋，中华人民共和国生态环境部部长，《生物多样性公约》第十五次缔约方大会（COP15）主席。

曾先后主持和参与过长江三峡、金沙江向家坝、溪洛渡、白鹤滩、雅砻江锦屏、澜沧江小湾等近百项重大水电和交通基础设施建设的重大工程地质问题研究、咨询，以及中国西南地区一批重大地质灾害防治工作。主持并完成国家973项目、国家基金委重点项目、部、省级重点科技项目40余项，1995年国家杰出青年科学基金获得者。 出版学术专著8部，发表论文350余篇，科研成果获国家科技进步一等奖2项，省（部）级科技成果特等、一等奖13项，个人曾获2018年国际工程地质与环境协会“Hans Close" 学术成就奖、全国杰出专业技术人才奖、何梁何利科学技术进步奖、李四光地质科学奖、全国教学名师称号等。