President Xi urges pollution prevention, control

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for comprehensive efforts to prevent and curb pollution, urging focus on areas surrounding rivers and lakes as well as major air-polluting industries.

Xi made the comments on Friday during a study session with members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on ecological construction.

"A sound eco-environment is the basic foundation for the sustainable development of humans and society...our environmental protection and rehabilitation efforts should focus on solving obvious issues that harm people's health," Xi said.

Stressing that only "the strictest system and most tightknit law enforcement" can provide ensurance for China's ecological construction, Xi urged for a responsibility-pursuing mechanism targeting those behind irresponsible decision-making that leads to severe environmental consequences.

According to Xi, an evaluation system should be set up to incorporate the waste of resources, environmental damage, ecological benefits and other aspects reflecting ecological conditions for the overall development of the economy and society.