China to boost green manufacturing in Yangtze River Economic Belt

BEIJING - China will develop green manufacturing in the Yangtze River Economic Belt to reduce pollution and boost economic growth.

The total industrial output of green manufacturing in the region will reach 5 trillion yuan ($742 billion) by 2020, according to guidelines released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments.

China will help create 500 green manufacturing demonstration plants, 50 industrial zones and promote over 5,000 green products.

Meanwhile, energy consumption, pollutant emission and water consumption will be lowered markedly compared with 2015, the guidelines said.

Sectors in the region burdened with excess capacity such as steel and cement will not increase output.

The Yangtze, the world's third-longest river, runs through nine Chinese provinces and two municipalities, covering 2.05 million square km.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, which accounts for more than 40 percent of both the national population and GDP, is a new growth engine for the country, reducing the development gap between east, central and western regions.