Minister Li Ganjie presided over a ministerial executive meeting which considered and adopted in principle the action plan for the control of the pollution by diesel-fueled trucks, the action plan for the protection and restoration of the Yangtze River, and the plan for ranking the cities by air quality, and heard reports on the air and surface water quality in the first six months of the year.  

The meeting noted that the tough battle against pollution by diesel-fueled trucks marks one of the seven landmark battles waged by the CPC Central Committee against pollution, which helps cut the total emissions of diesel-fueled trucks and protect the blue sky from air pollution. The main target areas are the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, the Yangtze Delta, Fenhe-Weihe Plain, and the central and western regions. And clean diesel-fueled trucks and engines, clean transporting, and clean oil products will be promoted to bring down the pollution level.  

The protection and restoration of the Yangtze River focuses on the improvement of the ecological and environmental quality of the river and integrates the management of the mountain, water, forest, farmland, lake, and grass ecosystems. In this process, efforts will be made to highlight the pollution control and ecological conservation, advance the control of water pollution, the restoration of the water ecosystems, and the protection of the water resources. The industrial, agricultural, domestic, and shipping pollution sources will be under control, in order to restore the ecosystem functions of the river.  

The air and surface water quality will be gradually improved in the first six months of the year. The monitoring data will be under scrutiny for quality control and made public on a regular basis.  

The meeting decided that in order to urge the local governments to substantially improve local air quality, the air quality will be evaluated and ranked in more cities, to expand from the original 74 key cities, to the cities at or above prefectural levels in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas, Yangtze Delta, Fenhe-Weihe Plain, Chengdu-Chongqing cluster, the city clusters in the middle stream of Yangtze River, and Pearl River Delta, including the provincial capital cities and cities separately listed in State plans.  

Vice Ministers Huang Runqiu, Zhai Qing, Zhao Yingmin, and Liu Hua, Chief Inspector of the CCDI Inspector’s Office and Chief Supervisor of the SSC Supervisor’s Office at the MEE Wu Haiying, and Vice Minister Zhuang Guotai presented at the meeting.  

The principal officials of the internal departments participated.