Calm waves, shared future: inside China's green transition in Ningbo

 

 By Lin Zhuowei

(ECNS)--Ningbo, a coastal city in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, wears its meaning in its name. Over six centuries ago, the Ming Dynasty founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang bestowed it with two Chinese characters that signify "calm sea, still waves." It was a wish for peace and tranquility — over the water, over the people, and over the world.

Today, that ancient hope has quietly translated into a modern ambition: a green transformation that is as much about technological innovation as it is about harmony between humanity and nature.

A city that breathes

One of the most striking examples lies not in Ningbo's famous port or bustling manufacturing hubs, but in the Eastern New Town Ecological Corridor — a signature sponge city project.

The concept is simple yet revolutionary: design urban spaces to act like a natural sponge, absorbing, storing, filtering, and releasing rainwater to prevent flooding, reduce heat, and even reuse water.

Walking through the corridor, one will notice how the pathways seem to "breathe." Rain sinks instantly into the porous surface, leaving no puddles behind. The wetlands, alive with birdsong, "sing" with the calls of sparrows gathering as if in conference.

Here, the city has made room not just for people but for all living things, a habitat where concrete and nature coexist.

A lakeside conversation on the future

This inward-looking ecological experiment found a resonant outward echo at Dongqian Lake, another signature ecological corridor in Zhejiang.

It was here that the Green and Sustainable Development Forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) convened in late April 2026, bringing together ministers, special envoys, technical experts, and business leaders from across the SCO family and beyond.

If the sponge city represents Ningbo's own exploration of sustainable living, the forum posed a bigger question: how can this green knowledge be shared, adapted, and scaled for the benefit of all?

Sohail Khan, deputy secretary general of the SCO, did not hide his enthusiasm.

"We are quite amazed, but we are also thrilled," he said, clarifying that by "we" he meant not just the secretariat but all the delegates from SCO member states.

"Some business, private sectors in some of our countries would like to work with the Ningbo factories and industries that are working towards green technologies and green development."

For Khan, the urgency is clear. "Ecology is the No.1 item in the world today before the humanity to resolve," he stressed. And China, in his words, is "a leading star — the leading country in the world for making this happen."

A lifeline for the vulnerable

Behind the big-picture rhetoric, the forum acknowledged a stark reality: for many developing nations, green development is not merely a matter of improvement but of survival.

Fazeel Najeeb, ambassador of the Maldives to China, painted a sobering picture of this island nation.

"Maldives, as you all know, is a very vulnerable country," he said, emphasizing that environmental and ecological protection lies "very much at the heart of the discussion" in his country.

The ambassador made a direct appeal: "I hope your country can consider helping the Maldives in making our islands more sustainable — coming up with more technology, innovative technology, and passing on the skills and knowledge that China has gained over the years."

His remarks underscore how China's green journey is being watched closely by those on the frontlines of climate change, who see in it not just a model but a potential lifeline.

A green loop across the ocean

That model is already taking concrete shape far beyond Asia.

Anthony Coles, an Australian entrepreneur in the new energy sector, described a mutually beneficial relationship emerging between his home state of South Australia and China.

"In my home province in South Australia, our electricity grid is already nearly 80 percent renewable energy," Coles said. "We no longer have any coal-powered power stations in our electricity grid."

The state, he explained, exports minerals used in battery production and imports finished batteries that are "being used to decarbonize our transport and our energy system."

It is, in essence, a green loop, where raw materials go one way, clean energy solutions come back the other.

A shift of culture

Yet the most telling evidence of change may be found not in diplomatic speeches or trade statistics, but in the quiet transformations of daily life.

Tesh, a British influencer living in Ningbo, offered an unexpectedly candid observation.

"I actually drive a petrol car, and I feel a little embarrassed driving it when I see all the EVs around," he admitted.

For him, this shift in collective attitude is the real story. "Changing the culture is the most important thing that's happened in Ningbo. That level of understanding of environmental change is so much stronger here than, I guess, in the UK where I can compare it to."

When driving a petrol-powered vehicle starts to feel like a social faux pas, you know something deep has shifted, and that shift can be more powerful than any government mandate.

Looking out over the calm surface of Dongqian Lake, it is hard not to think back to the Ming emperor who, all those centuries ago, named this city for tranquil waters.

Today, Ningbo is doing precisely what that name envisioned: pursuing a development path where prosperity does not come at the expense of nature.

The city's clear waters reflect a wisdom that is at once ancient and urgently modern, a model of harmony between people and the environment that China is increasingly sharing with the world.