Yunnan, an ecotourism paradise and a mysterious land of biodiversity, welcomes travelers from around the world to explore its charm and learn about its untold stories, said Wang Ning, Party secretary of the province.

As a pioneer of ecological civilization, Yunnan will prioritize protection of the environment, animals and plants, while utilizing its green resources to develop related industries. It will pave the way to modernization on the basis of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, said Wang, who is also a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

With an area of 394,000 square kilometers, the southwestern province is home to 47 million people from various ethnic groups. It hosts all ecosystems, with the exception of the ocean and desert. With its landscape dotted with mountains, rivers, lakes and gorges, it has the most diverse flora and fauna — 19,333 species of plants and 2,273 species of vertebrates, or more than half of China's total — among all provincial regions in the country, according to authorities.

Its biodiversity is recognized by the world, and the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a major United Nations gathering on environmental issues, was held in Kunming in 2021.

"Yunnan has remarkable diversity in landforms, climates and species, earning titles such as the 'Kingdom of Plants', 'Kingdom of Animals' and 'Kingdom of Nonferrous Metals'. It's a renowned paradise for tourists worldwide," Wang said.

Back in the 13th century, Italian traveler Marco Polo visited Yunnan and praised Kunming, its capital, as a magnificent city, immortalizing the beauty of Yunnan in his travelogue and sharing it with the world. In the 1920s, explorer Joseph Rock arrived in Yunnan from the United States and stayed for 27 years, showcasing the natural beauty and cultural richness of the region to the world through the National Geographic magazine, according to Wang.

In 2023, the province received 1.04 billion visits and raked in tourism revenue of 1.4 trillion yuan ($194.5 billion), up 24 percent and 52.3 percent, respectively, year-on-year. During the Spring Festival holiday in February, multiple attractions, including Dali Ancient City, welcomed more than 100,000 visits daily, earning tourism revenue of 63.74 billion yuan.

Besides tourism, green resources also bring in revenue for the province.

"Our vegetables grow abundantly throughout the year, and we sell more than 20 million metric tons outside the province; our coffee production accounts for 95 percent of the entire Chinese output, with its aroma spreading both domestically and internationally; our freshly cut flowers yield 19 billion stems annually, and are exported to over 40 countries and regions, taking Yunnan's beauty and romance to the world," he said.

Wang added that the ecological environment is a precious asset of Yunnan, serving as a solid foundation for accelerating development and catching up.

"To prioritize the ecological environment is to secure the sustainable development of Yunnan and to ensure the well-being of future generations," he said.

Yunnan will promote the integrated protection and comprehensive management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands, ensuring that "no ecological environment is damaged no matter how small it is, and ecological conservation will not yield to economic interests", he said.

The province will control and reduce air, water and soil pollution to benefit the environment. It will promote green transformation of companies to improve the efficiency of resource and energy utilization and reduce emissions. Yunnan will focus on major agriculture-based industries such as tea, fresh flowers, vegetables, fruits, nuts and coffee, and develop high-quality agricultural brands, Wang said.

The province will also be innovative in development of ecological tourism by putting forward themed routes such as Asian elephants, snub-nosed monkeys, black-necked cranes, the Yuanyang terraced fields and old tea forests of the Jingmai Mountain. It will promote the conservation and utilization of biological resources to develop biopharmaceutical industry, he added.

Contact the writers at chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn