Chinese vice premier pledges more efforts to improve environment

BEIJING - China will make more efforts to improve the environment in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said.

"China will face both challenges and opportunities in the period," Zhang said at the annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) on Thursday.

To promote ecological civilization, China will further implement its five development concepts: innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing, said Zhang, also chairman of CCICED.

The government will ensure the country's ecological situation improves by 2020, Zhang said.

Specifically, China will boost green, circular and low-carbon industries, prevent and control air, water and soil pollution, improve the accountability system, promote the rule of law, and expand international cooperation on fighting climate change and green "Belt and Road" construction.

The vice premier hopes the CCICED will facilitate communication between China and rest of the world in the environment and development, and facilitate improvement of global environmental governance.