Investment plan will cover green issues

Improving the environment is a key element of the government's financial stimulus plan, vice-premier Li Keqiang said yesterday in Beijing.

"Environmental protection and energy-saving industries should become the new highlights of economic growth in this round of investment to boost domestic demand," Li said at the opening of the annual meeting of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

Zhou Shengxian, minister of environmental protection, said that over the next three years, 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) will be used to tackle environmental problems.