BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- With a draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan under examination and discussion by China's top legislature and political advisory body at their ongoing annual sessions, the new development roadmap is set to shape the country's pathways toward a modernization that stands out in how it interacts with nature.

The 2026-2030 period marks a critical stage for China in its quest to basically achieve socialist modernization by 2035, with harmony between humanity and nature standing as a distinctive feature of Chinese modernization.

The 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, opened its fourth session on March 5, 2026, to which a draft environmental code was submitted for deliberation.

Once adopted, it will become China's second formal statutory code, after the Civil Code, which was adopted in 2020.

The latest legislative move comes amid China's historic gains in ecological conservation over the past decade or so. Championing green development, the country has recorded the world's fastest growth in forest resources and afforestation, led globally in renewable energy development, and achieved one of the fastest national reductions in energy intensity worldwide.

In China, the world's largest electricity consumer, one in every three kilowatt-hours of electricity comes from green energy sources, powering daily life, while reshaping the national and global energy and industrial landscapes, according to the National Energy Administration (NEA).

China has also made historic achievements in river protection and governance.

Furthermore, efforts to restore key ecosystems have yielded results. The country has achieved a consecutive reduction in both desertified and sandy land areas, becoming the first in the world to reach "zero growth" in land degradation.

China has effectively conserved more than 80 percent of its nationally protected wild terrestrial animal and plant species, following marked improvement in the quality of wildlife habitats, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The draft outline unveiled a set of tasks and goals to accelerate green transition across the board over the next five years.

Among the 20 major indicators for economic and social development during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, five are related to green and low-carbon development, according to the draft outline.

The country will speed up the shift to eco-friendly production practices and lifestyles, and ensure that the goal of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 is accomplished as planned, paving the way for the realization of carbon neutrality before 2060.