Full text: Report on China's economic, social development plan

6. We will unwaveringly advance energy conservation and emissions reduction, and strengthen ecological improvement.

1) We will strictly implement the accountability system for meeting targets. We will do a good job of breaking down the overall targets for energy conservation and emissions reductions in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan into local targets, and improve statistics and evaluation methods for energy conservation and emissions reduction. We will organize evaluations of provincial governments' work on fulfilling targets for energy conservation and emissions reductions during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period and implement reward and punishment measures accordingly.

2) We will accelerate the development of key projects. We will implement key renovation projects for saving energy and the project to promote energy-efficient products for the benefit of the people. We will intensify R&D on generic and key technologies for conserving energy and reducing emissions, and successfully demonstrate the industrialization of major energy conservation and environmental protection technologies and promote their application. We will push ahead with the construction of urban facilities to treat sewage and garbage, start work on flue gas denitrification in coal-fired power plants, and make sure more pollution control facilities operate properly. In 2011, the percentages of urban sewage treated and urban household waste safely handled will reach 80% and 74% respectively, 3.1 and 1.5 percentage points higher than last year.

3) We will strengthen management over energy conservation and emissions reduction. We will formulate and implement limits on energy consumption per unit of production in energy-intensive industries and energy efficiency standards for the end-use of energy-consuming products. We will strictly enforce the system for assessing and examining energy savings in investment projects. We will carry out pilot programs on a cap-and-trade system for controlling overall energy consumption and trading energy savings. We will give priority to energy conservation management in key energy-intensive enterprises, and launch a campaign to get 10,000 enterprises to save energy and lower carbon emissions and a green-buildings campaign. We will strictly enforce energy-saving standards for new buildings, accelerate energy-saving renovations to existing buildings and the reform of the heat supply by installing heating meters in northern China where heating is supplied, and expand the use of renewable energy in buildings. We will further implement energy-conservation mechanisms such as energy performance contracting, efficient electricity generation and distribution, demand-side management of power, energy efficiency labeling, and state certification and government procurement of energy-efficient products. We will strengthen our capabilities in energy conservation management and the oversight and inspection of law enforcement in this regard.

4) We will energetically develop a circular economy. We will improve and implement policies and measures on encouraging and supporting the development of a circular economy, and deepen pilot programs and demonstrations for it. We will accelerate the comprehensive utilization of massive solid waste and make progress in desalinating seawater. We will develop demonstration bases for recovering mineral resources from city waste, and give impetus to the industrialization of remanufacturing and the transformation of kitchen waste into resources. We will comprehensively carry out clean production. In 2011, water consumption per 10,000 yuan of value-added of industry will decrease 7% and the proportion of industrial solid waste that is comprehensively utilized will increase 1 percentage point.

5) We will strengthen ecological and environmental protection. We will intensify water pollution prevention and control in key watersheds, especially major rivers and lakes; strengthen efforts to clean up heavy metal pollution in key areas and the comprehensive improvement of the rural environment; develop a system for rural garbage collection and treatment; and control non-point source pollution in rural areas. We will strengthen efforts to clean up and control marine pollution. We will implement the second phase of the virgin forest protection project, accelerate the development of ecological shields in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, continue to control the sources of dust storms affecting Beijing and Tianjin, comprehensively prevent karst areas from becoming stony deserts, build key forest shelterbelts, and start ecological and environmental protection in and comprehensive improvements to the Loess Plateau and the Qilian Mountain glacier and water source conservation area. We will further implement the project of returning grazing land to grasslands and support the ecological protection of major water source supply areas. We will establish a sound mechanism for ecological compensation, advance pilot programs on compensation in major functional ecological zones, and introduce a master plan for the national experimental area for comprehensive ecological conservation of the sources of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. We will intensify efforts to bring soil erosion under control through combined measures. And we will put greater emphasis on controlling geological disasters in key areas.

6) We will actively respond to climate change. We will meet the action targets for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. In 2011, we will afforest an additional 6 million hectares of land, increase forest stock, and enhance our carbon sequestration capability. We will put in place a statistics and accounting system for greenhouse gas emissions, expand low-carbon trials, and increase international cooperation on responding to climate change.