Xi's formulation of ecological civilization, which seeks to embed the environment in every aspect of policy, should become the driver of that transformation, Hilton says.

The WWF strongly supports the Chinese government's ecological civilization strategy, which is in line with the organization's global mission to ensure a healthy, equitable and sustainable future for people and the planet, Smith says.

The WWF believes the recently adopted United Nations sustainable development goals and their targets provide a strategic framework for building an ecological civilization, and the 13th Five-Year Plan will be an opportunity to demonstrate the implementation of these goals, Smith says.

Together with evolution of thinking at top levels, Pasztor says the public awareness in China about the need to address environmental degradation, pollution and climate change has significantly increased over the past two decades.

"The public is more engaged with these issues than ever before. People understand that protecting the environment has direct benefits for health and quality of life. This growing public concern has led the government to take more ambitious policies and measures," says Pasztor.

"But we will need action from all sectors of society, including government, businesses and the public, to build a truly sustainable future."

The Chinese public is aware of China's environmental crisis, in particular of air pollution, water pollution, food safety and desertification, Hilton says.

However, according to the latest Pew Global Opinion Survey, public understanding of climate change and low-carbon development is still relatively low in China, and climate change is often confused with air pollution, Hilton notes. At the same time, rising prosperity, consumption and car ownership can conflict with the imperatives of low-carbon development.

But according to a report previously released by Oxfam and Renmin University of China, the climate awareness of the Chinese is even higher than that of Americans.

Smith of the WWF says public awareness on questions of environmental protection, like air pollution, is becoming a catalyst of rapid change in China.

Smith says, in recent years, momentum has been driven by widespread public concerns over air quality, air pollution and global climate change. They are issues with the same origin, which is China's reliance on coal-fired power generation. Climate change also makes dangerous PM2.5 pollution even more difficult to diffuse in some regions in China and affects the air quality in neighboring countries.

"To solve environmental problems, including climate change, we need public support," says Smith.

"And we believe that by uniting people, we can change climate change and move to a low-carbon future."

Gao Shuang in Brussels contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at fujing@chinadaily.com.cn and lanlan@chinadaily.com.cn