Chinese Vice Premier Pledges Green Growth Amid Economic Revamp

Vice Premier Li Keqiang has said that China will endeavor to strike a concordant tune between economic development and environment protection in its transformation efforts.

Li made the remarks at the opening session of the annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), an international think-tank for the government, on Tuesday.

Noting that the world faces daunting tasks to address challenges in energy resources, food security and climate change, Li stressed that the harmony between economy and environment is of vital importance in the global agenda.

He said to retain a steady and relatively fast growth pace amid resource restraints, China need to upgrade its development mentality, explore an innovation-driven mode through transformation.

Li said China's revamp of economic pattern will feature expanding domestic demand, innovation, improving people's livelihoods, green and low-carbon emissions.

"China will take comprehensive measures in the coming five years to decrease the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent, and increase the added value of service industries by 4 percentage points, which will vigorously promote the economic transformation," Li said.

To achieve that goal, China will step up efforts in industrial optimization and upgrading, curbing and treating pollution, eliminating outdated capacities and encouraging low-carbon industries, Li said.

Meanwhile, China will push for a differentiated and graded policy on energy consumption to use the leverage of market and price to push for green growth, he said.