BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- China has stepped up efforts over the past 20 years to build an ecological economic system, fostering new growth drivers and advantages for development through high-level environmental protection, according to a think tank report released on Sunday.

Titled "Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains for Beautiful China and World: China's Ecological Civilization Concept and Practice, and How They Inspire the World," the report was jointly released by Xinhua Institute, a think tank affiliated with Xinhua News Agency, and the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.

China has charted a development path that converts the advantages of ecological resources into economic benefits by protecting the ecological environment, maintaining ecological functions, and leveraging ecological compensation mechanisms, the report said.

It added that the country has also designed a pathway to spur economic development by fully leveraging ecological advantages, including developing eco-agriculture, eco-tourism and eco-industry.

The report also noted that China leads the world in both green credit and green bond issuance.

As of the end of 2024, China's outstanding balance of domestic and foreign currency green loans stood at 36.6 trillion yuan (about 5.13 trillion U.S. dollars), and its total green bond issuance exceeded 4.1 trillion yuan. ■