Fujian province has been chosen as a pilot for China's first ecological civilization construction area and will develop a system for it to increase energy efficiency and environmental quality over the next few years, the provincial governor has announced.

Su Shulin, governor of Fujian, made the announcement at a recent news conference, where he said that the State Council described its plan to support Fujian in the accelerated construction of the pilot zone, on March 10, and provided guidelines on industrial transformation for the province through innovation and environmental protection moves.

Su went on to say that the local government needs to eliminate outmoded industrial production for the pilot project across different industries and improve its environmental impact assessments of new projects. The work to be done includes coming up with a natural resources balance sheet, getting officials to do a natural resources audit when leaving office, and making natural resources, such as water and forests, a part of the property rights.

Fujian has been focusing on green development since 2000, when President Xi Jinping, serving there at the time, proposed an "ecological province" strategy, with the result that it has become one of the first provinces to undertake ecological construction.

Its forest coverage last year was 65.95 percent, the country's highest, with forested areas increasing by 365,000 hectares from five years previous, according to the provincial government.