BEIJING, May 1 (INP): China held here a first-ever international horticultural exhibition to introduce the concept of ' live Green, Live Better'.

The expo was formally inaugurated by President Xi Jinping hoping that it would open new bounds of friendship, making the life beautiful through the natural wealth, flowers, plants and trees.

The expo attracted the participation of 110 countries and international organizations. World leaders including Prime Minister Imran khan also attended by the opening ceremony.

President Xi expressed his hope that the green development concept embodied by the expo park would be spread to "every corner of the world.

The International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 Beijing is the highest-level and largest international fair held in China after the International Horticultural Exhibition held in the southwestern city of Kunming in 1999, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and the first China International Import Expo in 2018.

The 2019 Beijing expo indicates that China has changed from a participant in aid Wu Shunze, an expert with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

"The development model of 'killing the hens for eggs' and 'draining the lake for fish' is at a dead end," Xi said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the expo. "The future will be illuminated by eco-friendly development that is in accordance with the rules of nature."

The State Council approved Beijing's bid to host the 2019 expo in 2012, the same year when the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China first raised the vision of building a "Beautiful China."

Since that congress, ecological civilization has been placed in the country's "five-sphere" integrated plan and "four-pronged" comprehensive strategy, with pollution control carried out with unprecedented scale, institutions introduced with unprecedented intensity, environment laws enforced with unprecedented severity and the environment improved at unprecedented speed.

"China's ecological civilization development is on fast track. People will live in a better environment with blue sky, green mountains and clear water," Xi said. "We should protect the ecological environment like protecting our eyes and value it in the same way we value our lives."

"Only with concerted efforts can we effectively deal with global environmental issues such as climate change, marine pollution and biological protection and achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals," he said.

INP/J/AJ