New polluting projects barred from regions

Coal-fired power plants and other highly polluting energy projects will not be allowed in major economic engine areas of coastal China under the country's plan to redistribute its industrial layout.

The State Council's executive meeting decided on Wednesday to prohibit any new high-pollution and high-consumption power projects in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei triangle as well as Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta areas - three major economic regions in China.

The meeting required different areas to develop their own advantages on industries and make full use of their geographic positions, while vowing to fasten infrastructure construction and improve finance and taxation services in underdeveloped western China. New policies will be issued to attract labor-intensive industries to move from eastern China to the west.