BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China will make cutting emissions a focus of its ecological strategy in the next five years, President Xi Jinping said, vowing to call off projects which consume a lot of energy and can’t meet environmental standards.

“The carbon neutral and emission-peaking goals are solemn promises China has made to the world,” Mr Xi said at a study session of the Communist Party’s Politburo on Friday (April 30).

“They will bring about broad and profound economic and social reforms and they will not be achieved easily,” according to a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency, which cited him.

Local governments at all levels must set out clear timetables, road maps and work plans for the efficient use of resources and development in a low-carbon way, he said.

High energy-consuming and high-emission projects that fail to meet environmental standards must be stopped, he added.

At a climate summit convened by United States President Joe Biden last week, Mr Xi reiterated the nation’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060. While China will increase coal consumption between now and 2025, it plans to reduce it in the following five-year plan from 2026.

China will improve its management of binding targets for environment protection, energy saving and emission reduction, and build a stable fiscal spending mechanism, the Chinese leader said at the Politburo event.

The country will provide funds and technology support for developing nations to improve their environment management capabilities, Mr Xi said.

China will stick to “the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities” to “firmly protect our development interests,” he added, referring to a notion included in the 2015 Paris climate agreement that put a greater financial burden on the countries most responsible for global warming.

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