'Green' officials more likely to head cities

New emphasis placed on protecting environment, over pure GDP growth

More officials with backgrounds in environmental protection are rising to head local governments. Experts believe such officials - who have a better understanding of the country's ecological status and needs - will help address environmental problems that have been among the hardest nuts to crack, and that they will be pioneers in changing outdated notions held by many local government heads that GDP growth is the top priority of their agendas.

Early this month, 56-year-old Dong Yibing, former head of Shanxi province's Department of Ecology and Environment, was transferred to the province's air pollution-plagued Linfen as deputy mayor and acting mayor, according to a media release from the city's legislature. The legislature's decision was made after it accepted former mayor Liu Yuqiang's resignation. Liu, 56, began to work in Linfen in August 2015 and was promoted to mayor in October 2016.