A senior official of the world's leading conservation body has praised China's progress in nature conservation and ecological restoration, saying the country is offering the world a new paradigm of coexistence between humanity and nature, underpinned by its concept of an ecological civilization.

"I believe that in the 21st century, we will see global conservation leadership coming more and more from East Asia, particularly from China," said Stewart Maginnis, deputy director-general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

He made the remarks on Wednesday in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, while attending the ongoing Nature-based Solutions Summer School — an event that brings together more than 40 experts from different countries and will later move to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

First coined by the World Bank in 2008, the concept of nature-based solution was formally defined and issued with a global standard by IUCN in 2016, proposing the use of nature and healthy ecosystems to address societal challenges and benefit both people and nature.

Recalling his multiple visits to China since 1999, Maginnis pointed to visible changes over the years, including cleaner water and bluer skies, and attributed his frequent visits to China to the country's role as a hub for developing and applying nature-based solutions.

"China has applied, walked the talk, and set a good example," Maginnis said, highlighting that the country has met its target of placing 15 percent of its terrestrial area under protection, with steady continued growth, while taking a leadership role in marine and coastal conservation and spearheading the shift to renewable energy.

He mentioned the restoration of the Loess Plateau — some 50,000 square kilometers of severely degraded land that has been brought back to vibrant biodiversity and productivity — and the coastal wetland restoration in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, where the removal of the invasive alien species smooth cordgrass has revived critical habitat for migratory birds.

Maginnis also cited Haizhu National Wetland Park in Guangzhou, which, without visionary leadership, would have been turned into commercial development that could have harmed biodiversity. He said the park is certified under IUCN's Green List, the highest standard for effectively and equitably managed protected areas, noting that China now has the most Green List sites worldwide.

"It is not an accident that we are making so much collaboration and so much progress on nature-based solutions here in China," Maginnis said. "The framing and context, driven right from the top, create perfect conditions for each of these solutions."

China is bringing much-needed conceptual frameworks to the world — especially the idea of coexistence, which does not separate nature from society. This is reflected in the philosophy of ecological civilization and the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, he added.

This conceptual leadership, Maginnis added, is complemented by a mutually beneficial partnership in which IUCN helps recognize and disseminate good practice, while China provides real-world, large-scale application of such cases. Some of China's practices have already been replicated in other countries.

"China becomes more and more prominent in extending technical assistance to other countries. I am very hopeful that we will start to see nature-based solutions as a key part of that technical assistance," he said.