Ecological civilization drives environmental improvement

Structural transformation

Ma, the NGO director, is eyeing more environmental improvements in the wake of the country's climate actions.

The climate targets mean China will transform the structures of its energy, industry and transportation sectors, as well as people's lifestyles, which will help address pollution at the source, he said.

He added that positive progress had already been made at the Winter Olympics. With help of a grid that aids transmission of solar and wind power from Zhangbei, Hebei province, all the energy demands of the event's venues were supplied via renewable power. The grid is expected to help make 10 percent of power consumption in the capital green in the coming years.

China's transition in the process of building an ecological civilization is not only significant for the country, but also the world, said Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, in a previous interview with China Daily.

"Now, we are in a completely new situation where there is a belief that we can promote the economic development goals and create jobs, while at the same time taking care of the environment," he said.