China urged to put environment first

Future holds rich opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, says German official

China needs to put the environment at the center of its coming 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and fully implement existing laws and regulations to control pollution, according to a senior German environmental official.

China and Germany have great potential for cooperation on broad environmental issues, said Jochen Flasbarth, state secretary of the German federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety.