China will set up a new ministry to protect and manage the country's natural resources, according to a reform plan submitted to the national legislature on Tuesday.[Special coverage]
The plan on institutional restructuring of the State Council, or the cabinet, was tabled to the first session of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation.
Responsibilities of the new ministry will include overseeing the development and protection of China's natural resources, setting up and implementing a spatial planning system, and establishing a system for paid use of natural resources.
The Ministry of Land and Resources and the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation will be dismantled.
