By Tim Bovy
As we have seen in the Middle East and Europe, the most successful frameworks for environmental legislation have a strong underlying cultural ethic that a government is able to draw upon. Confucianism provides this ethical foundation in China. Confucianism percolates through China’s ecological civilization, informing its environmental policies.
China is continuing the rapid awakening from its long slumber as it returns to the extraordinary innovation of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Since 1978, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, who began the country’s gradual movement from communism to capitalism, China has set a course to lead the world economically, militarily, and technologically. Its famous dictum “Hide your strength, bide your time” describes “a tactic of hiding one’s abilities, biding time, and waiting for the right moment.”[1] In green technology and environmental policies, now seems to be that moment.
China’s overwhelming industrial capacity in clean technologies now threatens what remains of similar capacity in other nations.
James Kynge of Chatham House has recently noted that: “China is leading the world in innovation – from robotics to solar power.”[2] In Yale Environment 360, Isable Hilton adds some noteworthy statistics to his claim, including how China is making green technology more affordable: “China today produces about 80 percent of all solar panels and more than 70 percent of all electric vehicles. It has also — by dint of subsidies, efficiencies, and economies of scale — brought down the cost of solar panels by almost 90 percent, reducing the overall capital expenditure costs for renewable projects by 70 percent, thus lowering, if not removing, the cost barrier to the energy transition for the rest of the world. China’s overwhelming industrial capacity in clean technologies now threatens what remains of similar capacity in other nations.”[3]
In Breakneck, Dan Wang adds that since 1980 “China has built…almost as much solar and wind power as the rest of the world put together.”[4]
China’s Ecological Civilization, which is a main pillar of Xi Jinping thought, is a key driver behind its surge in green technology leadership. One of its goals is to transition “from an industrial society with unlimited economic growth that is destroying land, air, and water to an ecological civilization that provides a basis for the well-being and health of both people and the planet.”[5] Such thinking does not come out of nowhere.
As we have seen in the Middle East[6] and Europe[7], the most successful frameworks for environmental legislation have a strong underlying cultural ethic that a government is able to draw upon. Confucianism provides this ethical foundation in China. “In regions with a stronger Confucian cultural atmosphere,” for example, “firms exhibit greater attentiveness to biodiversity risks and express stronger negative sentiments regarding ecological threats…[suggesting] that traditional cultural values exert a significant motivating effect on modern corporate ecological responsibility.”[8]
The chart below represents a sampling of the Confucian influence on, for instance, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) legislation.
Confucian Thought → ESG in China: Conceptual–Regulatory Matrix[9]
Confucianism percolates through China’s ecological civilization, informing every aspect of its environmental policies. “Its core virtues—ren, yi, and he—form the foundation of ethical conduct. Ren fosters compassion and empathy, yi advocates justice and equitable interest-balancing beyond profit-seeking, and he serves as the ultimate goal of achieving harmony within society, nature, and human relationships.”[12]
Without this commitment, we face the cataclysmic environmental consequences of neoliberalism’s unbridled profit seeking
China’s constitutional imperative of ecological civilization has been built upon these Confucian ethical principles. As Mary Evelyn Tucker, the co-founder and co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, has argued, “There are many definitions of ecological civilization, but the most important aspiration is: Moving from unlimited economic growth that is polluting land, air, and water to an ecological civilization that cares for the well-being of both people and the planet.”[13]
China’s Ministry of Finance has recognized this need for financial restraint through its commitment to double materiality, which encourages the State and firms to prioritize long‑term social and environmental well‑being over narrow, short‑term profit. Without this commitment, we face the cataclysmic environmental consequences of neoliberalism’s unbridled profit seeking, which subordinates the needs of people and the planet to the market.
About the Author
Tim Bovy has over 35 years of experience in designing and implementing various types of information and risk management systems for major law firms such as Clifford Chance; and for international accountancy firms such as Deloitte. He has also developed solutions for organisations such as BT, Imperial Tobacco, Rio Tinto, the Kuwaiti government, The Royal Household, and the US House of Representatives. Tim is an elected member of The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, an Independent Think Tank based in Central London, and holds a BA degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and MA and C.Phil degrees from the University of California, Davis.
References
[1] Wikipedia, available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hide_your_strength,_bide_your_time#:~:text=Hide%20your%20strength%2C%20bide%20your%20time%20(Traditional%20Chinese:%20%E9%9F%9C%E5%85%89%E9%A4%8A%E6%99%A6,waiting%20for%20the%20right%20moment.
[2] James Kynge, “Can the West recover from China’s hi-tech knockout blow?, The World Today, the global affairs magazine from Chatham House15 December 2025 available at https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2025-12/can-west-recover-chinas-hi-tech-knockout-blog
[3] Isabel Hilton, “As U.S. and E.U. Retreat on Climate, China Takes the Leadership Role,” Yale Environment 360, November 10, 2025 available at https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-climate-diplomacy
[4] Dan Wang, Breakneck (Allen Lane, 2025), 3.
[5] “Ecological Civilization,” Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, accessed 18 December 2025, available at https://fore.yale.edu/Ecological-Civilization
[6] Tim Bovy, “Islamic Social Teaching’s Influence on ESG Legislation in the Middle East,” The European Financial Review, December 4, 2025 available at https://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/islamic-social-teachings-influence-on-esg-legislation-in-the-middle-east/
[7] Tim Bovy, “Why Europe Leads the World in ESG Legislation,” The European Financial Review, November 5, 2025 available at https://www.europeanfinancialreview.com/why-europe-leads-the-world-in-esg-legislation/
[8] Feng Ma, Lixuan Wen, Hanlin Wu, “Traditional Culture and Green Governance: The Influence of Confucianism on Corporate Biodiversity Risk,” SSRN, 17 Sep 2025, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5469326#:~:text=Drawing%20on%20China’s%20unique%20Confucian,ecological%20civilization%20and%20green%20transition.
[9] Generated by ChatGPT 5,2; edited by Tim Bovy
[10] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4663470
[11] ChangLiao, WanChu, “The Environmental Mandate of Heaven: Confucian Global Governance and Environmentalism in Chinese Policies” (2021). Master’s Projects and Capstones. 1188. https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/1188
[12] Zheng C., Zheng S, & Wang Y(2025), “Confucian ethical leadership, social-environmental CSR, and innovation in China: Transforming virtues into strategic value,” Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Management Studies, 12(1), 39-50. Revised 10 May 2025
[13] Mary Evelyn Tucker, “Ecological Civilization: An emerging paradigm in China,” DeepChina, August 13, 2024 available at https://deepchina.substack.com/p/ecological-civilization-an-emerging
