Measures proposed to boost circular economy

The Chinese government has proposed a series of fiscal and financial measures to ensure the country's circular economy targets are achieved during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), in a bid to build a recycling society and promote "green" consumption.

The government set a target to raise the country's resource-utilization efficiency by 15 percent by the end of 2015, compared with 2010, and for the circular economy industry to achieve a total output value of 1.8 trillion yuan ($286.05 million) in the same period, the State Council said earlier this month.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning agency, issued the development plan on Sunday, saying the government put forward 80 specific standards for the circular economy industry on areas such as recycling, energy efficiency, as well as the use of water, land and raw materials.