China to increase effective ecological investments

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment has urged efforts to promote investment growth in the field of ecology and the environment amid efforts to stabilize the country’s economy.
Targeting ecological projects listed among the country’s 102 major projects for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the ministry stressed the need to accelerate the advancement of projects related to air, water, soil, solid waste pollution control, and nuclear and radiation security supervision. For major projects in the planning stage, preliminary work should be done at an accelerated pace, and detailed construction schedules should be clarified for existing projects, according to Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu. The ministry also underlined measures to ramp up more accurate financial support for ecological and environmental protection projects.
Project reserves will be established to include ecological and environmental protection projects, as well as key national projects related to climate change. Efforts will be made to improve the accuracy of financial funding matches for these projects, the ministry said. Building project reserves is important for directing financial investments, effectively coordinating supply and demand, solving key ecological and environmental problems, and promoting green development, said Zhang Jianhong from the Chinese Society of Technology Economics. Industry insiders noted that China will focus on promoting the steady expansion of investments in infrastructure construction in the environmental protection sector, and broadening investment channels to increase financial and social capital in the sector. – Xinhua