African countries hoped to learn from the successful experience of China's development, he said, adding the concept of building ecological civilization would certainly expand future cooperation in this area between the Chinese government and African governments.

John Conner, CEO of the Climate Institute of Australia, said the stress put on pushing forward the building of ecological civilization in the 18th CPC congress report was very important.

"This is an important integration reflecting growing signals of the determination of the Chinese government to achieve its environmental and climate-related goals in its 12th Five Year Plan," he said, adding it also demonstrated China could build a reputation as a serious player in ecological sustainability.

Elizabeth C. Economy, director for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said: "I think the good news is your ministries are becoming much more interested in public health for example, are becoming much more interested in environmental protection."

"They see the relations between health and the environment, and I think this would be a very positive force pushing forward," Economy said in an interview with Xinhua.

Former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov said the concept of ecological civilization set the new trend of global development, and was especially important to countries like China. The achievement China made in promoting ecological civilization would benefit neighboring countries.

Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini said the fact the 18th national congress stressed the importance of protecting the environment and promoting ecological civilization indicated China would continue to invest more resources in this area. China had progressed noticeably in environmental protection in recent years, contributing a lot to the improvement of the global environment.

Henning Kristoffersen, a China expert in Norway, said placing the concept of ecological civilization at the core of building sustainable development for China had a huge impact not only on China, but also on the whole world. For a sustainable global development, it was therefore vital that Chinese leaders commit to placing creating a beautiful country alongside advancing economic, political, cultural and social progress.

Pierre Picquart, a French expert on China, said the environment issue was crucial to people's welfare. The report of the 18th national congress had put the building of ecological civilization at a noticeable place. In recent years, Chinese leaders had mentioned the concept of ecological civilization on many occasions, facilitating research and investments in renewable energy. As a result, the appearance of some coastal cities had changed, he said.