The growth that we want is one that brings real benefits to the

Hear the words of Li Keqiang, a steward of China’s destiny, who spoke with foresight and restraint: “The growth that we want is one that brings real benefits to the people, raises quality and efficiency of development, and contributes to energy conservation and environmental protection.” These words are not a mere reflection on wealth and progress, but a summons to wisdom in an age where nations chase prosperity at the cost of their future. They remind us that growth without conscience is but ruin disguised as success.

For what is growth if it fattens the purse yet starves the spirit? What is development if it fills the skies with smoke, poisons the rivers, and leaves the people weary though the numbers rise? True growth, Li proclaims, is not the fever of expansion for its own sake, but a harmony of prosperity and preservation, where the people are enriched, the work is efficient, and the earth itself is honored as the eternal foundation of life.

Mark well that Li speaks not only for his nation but for all mankind. For every empire that has risen too swiftly without balance has collapsed beneath its own weight. Consider the tale of Easter Island, where the people, in their hunger for monuments, cut down every tree until the land itself could no longer sustain them. Their statues stood tall, but their civilization withered. Contrast this with the Han Dynasty, which flourished when it fostered roads, canals, and institutions that benefited the people while respecting the natural order. The lesson is clear: growth must be guided by wisdom, not greed.

Li also calls us to remember the sacred duty of energy conservation and environmental protection. In our own age, the fires of industry burn so fiercely that they threaten the balance of the skies. The seas rise, the forests fall, the creatures vanish. Yet he reminds us that development need not be the enemy of nature, but can be its ally—when efficiency replaces waste, when clean energy replaces smoke, when the earth is treated not as quarry to be consumed but as partner to be respected.

Think also of the industrial revolution in Britain. It brought great power, lifted millions from poverty, and changed the face of the world. Yet it also brought smog so thick that cities were shrouded in darkness, and rivers so polluted they could no longer give life. Progress was real, but so was the cost. It was only when reformers and visionaries fought for clean air, for safe water, and for the health of workers that the promise of growth became truly beneficial. Here lies the very heart of Li’s message: prosperity must walk hand in hand with responsibility.

What lesson, then, must you draw? It is this: measure progress not by numbers alone, but by the lives it improves, the dignity it preserves, and the earth it safeguards. Demand of leaders that they seek not reckless expansion but quality and efficiency. Demand of yourself that you consume with care, that you waste not, that you act as steward and not destroyer of your environment. For the destiny of nations is bound to the health of the earth, and without her, no growth can endure.

Therefore, in your own life, honor this wisdom. Choose simplicity over excess. Support work and innovation that heals rather than harms. Plant trees where others cut them, save energy where others squander it, and pass on to your children not a land depleted, but a land renewed. For the measure of greatness is not how much wealth you gather, but how much life you preserve for those yet unborn.

Thus let Li Keqiang’s words echo across the ages: true growth brings real benefits, uplifts the people, strengthens efficiency, and protects the earth. This is the growth worth seeking, the growth that endures, the growth that makes nations not only richer, but wiser and more just.