In Beijing, people are taking selfies in front of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, as it will soon be replaced. New ministries were recently approved by the national legislative session.

The Ministry of Ecological Environment will take charge of protection of fresh water, land, air and oceans. The Ministry of Natural Resources will be responsible for making overall planning and overseeing the development and protection of the natural resources.

These changes may be answers to long-term issues, including poorly defined government responsibilities, according to Minister of Ecological Environment Li Ganjie.

The government has played a dual-role as both competitor and referee for a long time and that problem should now be solved, Li told a press briefing over the weekend.

Li's ministry will consolidate powers to prevent pollution and protect the environment that used to be spread among various ministries.

AMBITIOUS GOALS

New ministries mean more detailed planning, but the journey to sustainable growth still will not be easy.

The government will do as much as it can to protect and restore ecosystems. It will set redlines for protection in the whole country. More than 6.6 million hectares of forests will be planted. Crop rotation and fallow land trials will be increased to two million hectares, and all before the end of this year.

By 2020, total annual water use should be under 670 billion cubic meters and water use per 10,000 yuan of GDP will be reduced by 23 percent of the 2017 level.

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