China's efforts in pioneering a green path can inspire other countries to follow its lead as it strives to become the ecological civilization of the 21st century, according to Gretchen Daily, an environmental scientist at Stanford University.

"In fact, China has gone further than any other country in bringing the science and economics of the environment into decision-making," said Daily, a professor of biology.

"In the face of a deepening environmental crisis, China has become very ambitious and innovative in its conservation science and policies and has implemented them on a breathtaking scale."

Daily and her team recently completed research into China's biodiversity and ecosystem services. The ultimate goal is to open innovative pathways to sustainable, green growth, to secure nature and human well-being, and achieve China's dream of becoming the ecological civilization of the 21st century, according to the research findings.

"China has very advanced science linking ecosystem conditions to human well-being – relating, for example, how changes in forest cover affect flood, energy and water security," said Daily.

It also has a very advanced "big-data" platform, integrating information on the condition of ecosystems across the country, to enable tracking of the values of "natural capital" and the services provided to society, she added.

Beyond innovations in science, China has innovative policies that provide "eco-compensation" to poor farmers in remote places so that they choose livelihoods focusing not only on crop production but also on production of a wide array of other benefits from land, said Daily.

"The investments are designed to open more livelihood options for local landholders, to enable a shift in livelihood activities toward conservation and restoration of ecosystems," she said. Since 2000, China has invested about $150 billion in this effort. As a result of these investments, China's forests, grasslands, shrublands, and other key ecosystems have improved in quality over the past 16 years, according to the research.

"China is helping to bring about a transformation in the way people think of and account for the values of nature," said Daily. "China is using science to identify and define the priority areas for protection or restoration in order to improve water security in a way that anybody could apply."