It's not a concept normally associated with the mainland, a wild, green China whose conservation efforts could inspire other developing nations. We tend to think of a China whose breakneck economic development has poisoned rivers, polluted air and turned vast tracts of land into a moonscape. But, increasingly, a wild, green China is being revealed, and hailed internationally.
Among those spreading the word is Gavin Maxwell, producer and director of the BBC's six-part nature documentary series, Wild China, released last spring, shortly before the Beijing Olympics. He admitted that, before embarking on the landmark television project four years ago, his assumption was 'Quick, before it all goes', and to query if there was anything worth filming at all.
'My biggest surprise is how much is still there in China,' he said while in Hong Kong recently to address the local branch of the Royal Geographical Society. 'How many big mammals there are, how many key species and how much habitat is actually protected now.'
According to the most recent paper published by the State Council, nature reserves cover some 1.5 million square kilometres - 15 per cent - of China's land territory. A network of national nature reserves is 'effectively protecting' 85 per cent of land-based ecosystems, 85 per cent of wildlife species and 65 per cent of China's natural plant community, according to the same document.
Rare species featured in the Wild China series, called Beautiful China in the version shown on the mainland, include Tibet's tiny jumping spiders - the planet's highest permanent-dwelling predators - the giant panda, the golden snub-nosed monkey and the Tibetan antelope (chiru).
Mr Maxwell said Chinese students attending his lectures in London told him they had no idea there was such biodiversity in their country. 'That's been extraordinary, how secret China has been even to the Chinese,' he said.