Cleaner, greener Yangtze on the agenda

China will close all petrochemical enterprises and sewage outlets in environmentally sensitive areas along the Yangtze River by the end of June next year, the National Development and Reform Commission said on Thursday.

"These areas include nature reserves and drinking water sources," said Luo Guosan, head of the Department of Basic Industries under the NDRC, the country's top economic regulator.

The country will also close all illegal petrochemical enterprises with excessive pollutant emissions within a 1-kilometer radius of the Yangtze River by the end of next June, said Luo.