Abstract:Although sustainable development is the important direction of China's economic and social reform, domestic academia on public policy discussions and studies has scarcely related to sustainable development. This article attempts to promote the work by identifying three models about three pillars of sustainable development and their impacts on policy research. The juxtaposed model would not be possible to achieve the target of dematerialization with population growth and consumption growth. The weak sustainability model based on the new classical economics, seeking for ecological efficiency oriented economy growth, but under the prerequisite of not changing in production and consumption patterns, could not solve the rebound effect problem. The article puts forward the ecological constraints model of sustainable development, and explains its policy innovation principle and specific content. The article concludes that China’s sustainable development needs to shift from the pursuit of material capital expansion to the pursuit of human welfare development under the close proximity to earth's natural capital boundaries.