Steam and smoke clouds rise from a power plant factory in Huai'an city, East China's Jiangsu province, Jan 31. [Photo/CFP]

The treatment of air pollution by officials should be part of their performance evaluation, and third parties should be enabled to play bigger roles in pollution control, a deputy to the National People's Congress has said.

Liu Zhengjun, a deputy to the National People's Congress and deputy chairman of the China Association of Environmental Protection Industry, said the evaluation mechanism of government officials should include air quality in the area they serve as an important criteria.

"There should be evaluations on the effectiveness of the pollution control efforts, and that should also serve as a criteria to evaluate the performance of officials," he told China Daily.

Meanwhile, the government should give a bigger role to third parties, including private enterprises, in pollution control, and enable the market to truly play decisive roles.

"Currently, the air pollution control efforts are largely dominated by the authorities and implemented through administrative orders. But the effects have been far from ideal so far," he said.

That is why the country should create a platform that allows third-party entities, especially private companies, to take the dominant position in the pollution control process.

The government can also set up special funds to allow private capital to join the pollution control process, he said.

"It should also make sure that enterprises can gain enough profits in the pollution control process so that all social entities are motivated to play their part," he said.

Liu, who is also the board chairman of Yonker Environmental Protection Co Ltd, said he believes that the environmental protection industry will receive a massive boost in the near future as the country is set to devote increasing efforts to environmental protection to respond to public concerns.

"The air pollution issues have been so pressing that it forced the local authorities to take action," he said.

Meanwhile, the newly amended law on environment protection has also made it possible for the law enforcements authorities to take a tougher stance on punishing the polluters.

It is important for environmental protection enterprises to innovate to keep their edge over competitors.

"Technological innovations would ensure better pollution reduction. It would also reduce the costs in the process," he said.