Building eco-cities is a smart choice for humanity to achieve harmonious coexistence with nature. It is a farsighted strategic choice for sustainable development of Chinese cities. The goal is to build complex ecosystems featuring nature-society-economy interdependence, and ensure protection of the environment, social fairness and sustainable growth of the economy.

The idea of eco-cities highlights ecology in improving people's wellbeing and in the coexistence of man and nature. It is a positive response to the people's desire for a beautiful eco-environment. The CPC and the Chinese government take building eco-cities as a basic public service they must provide, so that people will live and work in an environment with blue skies, green vegetation and clear water, which will bring them a stronger sense of benefit, happiness and security.

From the perspective of economics, building eco-cities is an efficient way of resource allocation. From the perspective of urban construction, sustainable development of cities is a long process.

In recent years, Chinese cities have advanced resource conservation and recycling across the board, and cut consumption of energy and materials regarding urban space and environment, industrial development, urban buildings, transportation and utilization of energies, thus building themselves into garden cities, green cities, or cities of beautiful mountains and waters. Eco-cities also accommodate the living demands of their residents, spread ecological awareness in their daily life and work, and guide the people to gradually adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle.