China's new concept of development from the perspective of the sustainable development goals

The objective of this article is to analyze China’s recent explorations on its new concept of development —— the Ecological Civilization in the context of the 2030 SDGs which was put forward by the United Nations in 2015. The first part presents an introduction on the historical development of the 2030 SDGs of the international community and the Ecological Civilization of China. In the second part, it is shown that although these two new concepts of development coincide at the same moment, China’s Ecological Civilization is not a simple follower of the SDGs and has its own independent values. It can also interact with the SDGs through various ways. Finally, China faces challenges both from international and national levels in implementing its new concept of development. It is argued that a combination of “top-down” and “bottom-up” ways is critical in the process of China’s realization of the Ecological Civilization, along with the rule of law, the democracy and the globalization