From "Latent" to "Manifest"——The Contemporary Response of the "Two Mountains" Theory in Green-Empowering New Quality Productive Forces

The year 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". The "Two Mountains" theory embodies rich dialectical significance and contemporary relevance. By analyzing the intrinsic relationship between "lucid waters and lush mountains" and natural productive forces, as well as between "golden and silver mountains" and social productive forces, this article illustrates the transformation process of ecological value appreciation from implicit to explicit within the framework of Marxist productivity theory. This provides theoretical support for the green empowerment of new quality productive forces through the "Two Mountains" theory. New quality productive forces inherently reflect the ecological philosophy of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", the bottom-line thinking of "rather lucid waters and lush mountains than golden and silver mountains", and the developmental goal of "both lucid waters and lush mountains and golden and silver mountains". It profoundly addresses how to find a balance between high-quality economic development and high-level ecological environmental protection in the new era through innovation and technological progress. Finally, from ecological, developmental, value-based, and global perspectives, this article explores the future development trajectory of new quality productive forces under the "Two Mountains" theory, offering new pathways to achieve synergistic coexistence between protection and development.