New guidance on China’s green transition charts course for reform

China's leadership just articulated their vision for building a greener economy and society.

That vision is outlined in a high-level guidance on the "comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development" from the Party Central Committee and the State Council that dropped Sunday.

Some context: It's no coincidence this guidance was drafted immediately after the Third Plenum, where top leaders outlined out the Party’s economic reform agenda for the next decade.

• The Plenum decisions highlighted the need transition from growth at all costs to "high-quality" development, and pushed for environmental and economic priorities be kept in balance.
• It explicitly called for a “comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.”

Leaders aren't kidding about the "comprehensive" thing.

The guidance calls for extensive efforts to support green growth across a wide range of areas, including:

• The usual suspects, like greening the power sector, heavy industry, and transport
• Emerging areas of focus like making land use and building materials more eco-friendly
• Support for conservation, like protecting scarce resources and utilizing or recycling more waste
• A big push on green consumption and green procurement
• And, of course, more support for green tech innovation

That's not all: Beijing intends to "participate in and lead the global green transition process" – in part through green investment, trade, and technology cooperation.

No hurry: The guidance pushes progress in all areas by 2030 – and aims to have a green, low-carbon, circular economy firmly in place by 2035.

Get smart: This guidance is part of a new trend to promote the green economy as an answer to the outdated growth-at-all-costs approach.

• By consolidating high-level efforts across a long list of sectors, it provides clear direction for officials managing the transition.

What's next: Regulators will release detailed plans and targets for each plank of this guidance in the coming months.