Xi vows focus on emission cuts, end energy-inefficient projects

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,” Xi said at a study session of the Communist Party’s Politburo on Friday. "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.