Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

7-2026

Abstract

Existing studies of China’s overarching ideological framework for national development, “Ecological Civilization”, have focused narrowly on environmental governance; how it reshapes sustainable rural development remains underexplored. This paper pursues two analytically distinct tasks. First, it reconstructs the policy history of how President Xi Jinping’s “Two Mountains” theory was incorporated into the Eco-civilization framework and how Zhejiang Province’s “Green Rural Revival” (GRR) program, as a lived example of Eco-civilization, was elevated as the national template for rural development in 2024. Second, drawing on three cases from a sample of 21 villages in Zhejiang, it identifies three core practices of GRR and conceptualizes it as a post-productivist project: withdrawal from extractivist production, restoration of ecological resources, and development of facilities catering to urban consumption. We argue that GRR has directed rural development in Zhejiang toward a post-productivist transition and question the model’s replicability and sustainability as the central government promotes it nationwide.

Keywords

ecological modernization, Two Mountains theory, rural revitalization, green development, rural tourism

Discipline

Place and Environment | Public Policy | Sociology

Research Areas

Sociology

Areas of Excellence

Growth in Asia

Publication

Sustainability

Volume

18

Issue

13

First Page

1

Last Page

21

ISSN

2071-1050

Identifier

10.3390/su18136751

Publisher

MDPI

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.3390/su18136751

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