China's government is exploring new approaches to protect the environment and to deal with the heightening conflict between environmental protection and economic growth, said Zhou Shengxian, Environmental Protection Minister, Saturday.

China took only 30 years to have the environmental problems that had gradually emerged in developed countries over 200 to 300 years, said Zhou at a theme forum of the Shanghai World Expo in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

"As a big developing country with a population of 1.3 billion people, China is under unprecedented pressure for both economic development and environmental protection," he said.

"Therefore, we have to learn lessons from other countries, continue to reform and explore new approaches to protect the environment."

The "new approaches" should feature "low cost, good returns, low emissions and sustainability," he said.

However, he did not elaborate on what the new approaches were.

"While achieving targets for economic development, we have to make sure that 1.3 billion people drink clean water, breathe fresh air and eat safe food," he said.

The government has issued a series of guidelines on environmental protection.

It released its first plan on the protection of drinking water sources in June and its first guidance on the joint prevention and control of air pollution in May.

About 600 officials and scholars from around the world are participated in the two-day forum, including Under Secretary General of the United Nations Achim Steiner, director of State Administration of Energy Zhang Guobao, director of China Meteorological Administration Zheng Guoguang, chairman of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Rajendra K. Pachauri, and Hu Angang, a leading economist at Tsinghua University.

Under the theme "Environmental Changes and Urban Responsibilities," they will address the topics of international cooperation and policies for climate change, the green economy and innovative production models, the role of the public in building green cities, sustainable buildings, and sustainable lifestyle and consumption patterns.