China to build Xiongan into green area

BEIJING -?China has finished compiling an environmental protection plan for the Xiongan New Area in north China's Hebei Province, with an aim of building it into a modern green zone.

The plan will be based on the environmental protection of Baiyangdian, the largest fresh water lake in north China and an important part of Xiongan, said Wang Jinnan, head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, at a press conference Thursday.

With measures to protect the ecospace, improve environment quality and prioritize green development, Xiongan will be a low-carbon, intelligent, livable and globally influential city in which people and nature co-exist in harmony, Wang said.

You Yanxin, an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said the ministry had signed an agreement with the provincial government on environmental protection of the new area and started a soil pollution survey.

The central government has earmarked 500 million yuan (about 76 million US dollars) for improving the area's environment, You said.

China announced in April the decision to set up Xiongan New Area, the third new area of national significance after the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area.