To President Xi Jinping, for China to become a fully modernized, socialist country by 2049 — for China to realize the Chinese Dream — it must be beautiful. Beautiful means environmental protection leading to ecological civilization. A critical test is sustainability. After years of relentless economic growth, led by unrestrained development of heavy industry, China's environment was devastated — air, water and soil pollution were nearing a tipping point.

Finally, the Chinese government declared "war on pollution", introducing green initiatives and enforcing environmental laws. Progress, though uneven, was being made. But then, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, monopolizing China's attention and absorbing national resources. The origin of the epidemic was traced to a "wet market" in Wuhan, where meat was sold alongside live animals. Will this disaster enable China to ban permanently the sale of wild animals, bushmeat — a move that would also protect biodiversity? Will such unsanitary and unsustainable use of wildlife serve as a wake-up call?

China's path to 2049, to construct a beautiful country that prizes ecological civilization and promotes sustainability, is a transformative journey — but it is not a linear journey. This is why commitment and persistence are essential. China's battle against the novel coronavirus is now part of that journey. While China's "whole of society" mobilization is astounding, lessons are also being learned. Correcting errors, the Party says, is its hallmark. Authorities say they will improve systems of information collection and feedback, error correction and decision-making. If so, future historians may see this epidemic as a turning point in worldwide efforts to contain outbreaks of novel diseases and stop their spread.

History may well thank China for pioneering how to deal with virulent contagions in a globalized world. President Xi states that the Chinese Dream is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Protecting the environment and developing ecological civilization is now one of the "five pillars of the struggle for the new era".