Xi's letter has drawn wide and positive responses from conference participants and the public.

Olafur Grimsson, former president of Iceland, said at the forum he is impressed with China's recent commitment to green development. "In the past, we were not used to looking at China as a leading country in sustainable development, green development and clean energy. But all of those are becoming a reality right now," he told the forum.

Xiao Yongxian, a plum farm operator from Shi'erpan village in the Yanhe Tujia autonomous county in Guizhou, said the environment is the most equitable public goods and the most universal benefit for people.

Li Gelin, director of the poverty alleviation office from Leishan county in Guizhou, said concepts like "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and "ecological environment should be protected like our own eyes" have been widely accepted by both the local government and residents.

"Our county's 'all-for-one tourism' has witnessed healthy and proud development thanks to our good ecological environment," Li said.

Over the past years, Guizhou has become a good example of combining ecological civilization construction with economic development, experts agreed at a sub-forum about ecological civilization and poverty elimination on Saturday.

Guizhou, which began with its ecological civilization construction efforts in 2007, has seen its GDP rise to 1.35 trillion yuan from 280 billion yuan ($203.35 billion from $42.17 billion) in 10 years. Its green economy accounted for 37 percent of its total GDP last year.

Guizhou province, along with Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, was approved by the central government to build an "ecological civilization pioneer zone" in 2016, and has since become a comprehensive experimental field for reforms relevant to ecological civilization.

At the beginning of this month, Fanjing Mountain in Guizhou was added to the list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites. So far, the province has four UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites, the most of any Chinese province.

Gao Peiyong, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said some underdeveloped and remote areas like Guizhou usually have rich ecological resources, and they should take full advantage of their potentials to help reduce poverty.

Contact the writers at liuxiangrui@ chinadaily.com.cn