The 2012 Rio+20 Summit committed to developing integrated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for achieving a harmonious relationship among economic development, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability by 2030. Seventeen of the SDGs were adopted by all the signatories by 2015.

During recent decades, China, as one of the signatories, has designed and implemented a number of national sustainability policies to promote ‘ecological civilization’ and ‘beautiful China’. This synthesis aimed to help improve future sustainable development programs and policiies in China, as well as to provide examples and lessons for other countries that seek to achieve the SDGs for themselves and for global sustainability.

In this editorial, the authors encapsulate the main findings of this comprehensive study, and highlight several key ideas for advancing future sustainability policies and landscape sustainability science in China and worldwide.