(Photo provided by Beijing Construction Engineering Group)

BEIJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 Beijing. Following are some highlights in his speech.

-- I hope the green development concept embodied by the expo park should be spread to every corner of the world.

-- As China has been speeding up ecological civilization development, people will live in a better environment with blue sky, green mountains and clear water.

-- The development model of "killing the hens for eggs" and "draining the lake for fish" is at the dead end.

-- We should protect the ecological environment like we protect our own eyes, and treat the ecological environment like we treat our own life.

-- We should maintain the overall balance of Earth's ecology, so that the starry sky, lush mountains and floral fragrance will be retained for our future generations who enjoy material prosperity at the same time.

-- Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Improving ecological environment is increasing productivity.

-- We should embrace simple, moderate, green and low-carbon ways of life, and reject extravagance and waste of resources.

-- Only with concerted efforts can we effectively deal with global environmental issues such as climate change, marine pollution and biological protection.