General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to green consumption and has long proposed to "advocate and promote green consumption." Green consumption refers to the consumption behavior of various consumer entities in implementing the concept of green and low-carbon in consumption activities. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "advocate green consumption and promote the formation of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles", and the "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to "improve the green consumption incentive mechanism." This is not only an important measure to expand domestic demand and meet the people's growing needs for a better life, but also a necessary path to strengthen ecological civilization construction and promote high-quality economic and social development.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our party has actively promoted the green transformation of consumption models and achieved positive results. The potential of my country's consumer market is constantly being released, green consumption is surging, and green transformation in key consumer areas is effective. At the same time, we must also see that factors such as weak awareness of green consumption, insufficient supply of green products and incomplete relevant systems and mechanisms still restrict the development of green consumption. Promoting green consumption is not a certain link or unilateral task, but a systematic project that requires the participation of multiple entities such as consumers, enterprises and governments. We must integrate the concept of green and low-carbon into all aspects from production to consumption, and focus on promoting the greening of production and lifestyles from multiple aspects.

Create a green consumption awareness and actively practice a green lifestyle. Consumers are the main force in promoting green consumption. Developing green consumption and enhancing green consumption awareness are the prerequisite and basis. In recent years, the concept of green and low-carbon life has been praised by more and more people, and low-carbon environmentally friendly products and transportation tools are becoming the "priority options" for consumers. We must continue to deeply cultivate green consumption awareness, guide consumers to deeply understand the relationship between green consumption and green development, and enhance their awareness of saving, environmental protection and ecological awareness. Green and low-carbon national action plays an important role in cultivating green consumption awareness. We must deepen the green and low-carbon national action, deeply integrate the concept of green development into people's daily lives, guide people to start from their own little things, save water and electricity, oppose extravagance and waste, and actively purchase and use energy-saving and environmentally friendly green products; encourage people to give priority to green travel methods, adhere to green diet, green living, green office, etc.; carry out patriotic health campaigns widely, organize various forms of activities, and form a social atmosphere that advocates ecological civilization.

Accelerate the green transformation of the industrial structure and increase the supply of green products. Developing green consumption and improving supply are necessary conditions, so enterprises are also the basic force in promoting green consumption. At present, my country's green product supply varieties are constantly enriching, which has largely met people's green consumption needs. For example, in 2024, my country's production and sales of new energy vehicles increased by 34.4% and 35.5% year-on-year respectively. However, compared with the rapidly growing green consumption demand of residents, the effective supply of green products is still insufficient. Enterprises should implement the concept of green development into the entire process of the product life cycle, study and grasp market demand, and at the same time, based on their own advantages, find the right development positioning, and promote the green and low-carbon transformation of products and value chains. We must strengthen the research and development and application of green and low-carbon technologies, promote the diversification of green products, improve supply quality, and enhance market competitiveness. In addition, we must establish green marketing concepts and implement green marketing strategies. For example, change the traditional marketing methods and focus on brand building and promotion based on the characteristics of green products.

Improve the system and mechanism that is conducive to promoting green consumption and actively expand green consumption. The development of green consumption is inseparable from institutional and mechanism guarantees. We must improve the policy system and system mechanism that is conducive to green consumption, continuously improve green consumption incentive measures on both supply and demand, and expand green consumption. Research and implement the government’s green procurement system, improve and perfect supporting policies, and guide enterprises and the whole society to carry out green production and consumption. Accelerate the establishment of a unified green product standard, certification and identification system to improve consumer confidence and satisfaction. We must also improve the green consumption incentive mechanism to stimulate consumption vitality. For example, strengthen the construction of supporting facilities and after-sales service guarantees in consumer fields such as new energy vehicles and green smart home appliances; use big data technology to improve the green product supervision mechanism, strengthen the quality and safety responsibility guarantee for green products, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of green product producers and consumers, and create a good green consumption environment; etc.

(The author is Wang Peipei, professor of the School of Marxism at Tianjin University of Science and Technology)

(The headline article in this page is composed by the People's Forum Magazine and edited by the People's Daily Theory Department)