If China's success in the past 10 years is about considerably expanding the middle class, the next decade should be about making it feel happy, respected and secure. And a clean environment certainly counts big in the formula of happiness of the middle class.

This is probably what was implied by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao's opening speech at the 18th CPC National Congress on Nov 8. Hu said we should "reverse the trend of ecological deterioration and build a beautiful China". Beautiful is the new green.

Under the leadership of Hu, China maintained an average annual economic growth rate of 10.7 percent from 2002 to 2011, the envy of most of the other major economies that are still suffering from the repercussions of the global financial crisis. During the same period, China's per capita GDP rose from $1,000 to $5,432. Also, under the current leadership, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy.