Refined systems aid green development

The government will reform and refine its systems to facilitate the country's pursuit of high-quality development and environmental protection, Premier Li Keqiang pledged as he delivered the Government Work Report at the opening of the second session of the 13th National People's Congress on Tuesday.

Green development is a critical element in modernizing an economy and a fundamental solution to pollution, Li said.

The government will unveil a series of measures to strengthen green and environmental industries, including quickening the pace of upgrading thermal power, steel and other industries to achieve ultralow emissions and enforcing upgrades in heavily polluting sectors to achieve compliance with standards, Li said.

"Promoting green development comes down to every last one of us. Its success hinges on action and commitment. We must all work together to create a beautiful and livable environment for our people," Li said.

The country plans to reduce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by 3 percent in 2019, while making continuous efforts to reduce the density of PM2.5, a major particle pollutant, in key locations, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster, the Yangtze River Delta region and the Fenhe-Weihe River Plain area, most of which is located in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

As to water and soil pollution control, the target for the year is to achieve a 2 percent drop in both chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen emissions.

To achieve the target, the central government plans to allocate 25 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 25 percent, for air pollution control. Five billion yuan is expected to be allocated for soil contamination control. The planned budget for water pollution control stands at 30 billion yuan. Both of the later two budgets saw an increase of more than 40 percent from last year, according to a draft budget report submitted to the national legislature.