Zhejiang delegation receives the Champions of the Earth Award at the UN headquarters in New York City, the United States. [Photo by Hu Yuanyong]

Zhejiang's Green Rural Revival Programme was honored with a Champions of the Earth Award in New York City, the United States on Wednesday evening.

The Champions of the Earth award is the UN's highest level of environmental recognition recognizing exceptional figures, companies and public departments whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment.

As announced at the UN official website, the program was awarded for the transformation of a once heavily polluted area of rivers and streams in East China's Zhejiang province. The website also says the exceptionally successful eco-restoration program shows the combined, transformative power of economic and environmental development.

Zhejiang is a coastal province with abundant water and mountain resources. As one of the richest and most developed areas in China, its rapid economic development once turned waters milk-white or black, and saw houses demolished and river banks collapse.

In 2005, during a visit to Anji county in Huzhou, Chinese President Xi Jinping, then the Party secretary of Zhejiang, proposed the now famous theory "Clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and said economic development couldn't be promoted at the expense of the environment.

Then, action was taken through a series of initiatives, such as the Water Movement campaign and the river chief system, to restore the environment across the province, especially in rural areas.

Together with water treatment, Zhejiang put its emphasis on the overall environmental improvement of rural areas throughout the province, aiming to better the living environment of its villages.

Today's Zhejiang has seen a great enhancement in the environment and by the end of 2017, 97 percent of villages in the province had completed the restorations.

Qiu Liqin, a villager from Anji county, Zhejiang province makes a speech at the awarding ceremony in New York City, the United States. [Photo by Hu Yuanyong]

Photo taken on April 10, 2018 shows the newly-built houses in Wencun village of Dongqiao town in Fuyang district in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Xinhua]