Neighboring Hebei province, home to seven of the country's most polluted cities, pledged to cut steel and cement production capacities by 60 million tons each by 2017, according to local newspaper reports.

The estimated growth of the country's natural gas production in 2013 is about 9 percent, compared with the growth of coal production, which is estimated at only 1 percent, said Wu Xinxiong, head of the National Energy Administration.

This year's goal is to raise the proportion of natural gas consumption to 6.5 percent and to cut the proportion of coal consumption to less than 65 percent, Wu told a national energy conference in mid-January.

Xia Guang, head of the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy, which is affiliated with Zhai's ministry, said the number of economy-related measures among the 22 policies showed that the government is emphasizing the use of economic instruments to promote environmental protection, a trend that coincides with market-oriented reform nationwide.

Some good results are expected from the shift, he said.

"For example, by allowing companies to voluntarily choose environmentally friendly ways of development, the social cost to cure the environment can be reduced. And by adjusting the prices of natural resources to show their scarcity, people's attitude toward resources will change, which can save the effort of preaching," Xia said.

He said that in addition to economic steps relating to pricing, taxation and investment, the 22 measures will also target the financial sector.

With the introduction of the "green finance" concept, banks, for example, will be forbidden from lending money to polluting enterprises.

To better the effect of economic measures on tackling environmental issues, two aspects should be ensured, Xia said.

"One is to ensure the precondition of being environmentally friendly, with zero tolerance for situations such as paying more money for the right to pollute," Xia said.

Another is to strengthen supervision. He said environmental and economic experts have long been talking about introducing a tax on fuel, but considering the possible consequence of smuggling due to lack of supervision, this motion may still not be included in the coming 22 policies.

"By and large, though, economic means such as a fuel tax and traffic congestion fee are likely to be adopted in the future," Xia said.

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