On Saturday, Xinhua reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the country should fight against waste and irrational consumption as it tries to reverse the impacts of its development to its environment.
In a meeting, Xi said that while China has made progress in its campaign against pollution, the achievements have not been fully "consolidated."
"We must speed up the construction of a system of ecological civilization and ensure that the ecology and environment is fundamentally improved by the year 2035, and that our goal of building a beautiful China is basically achieved," he said.
He also added that China has now reached a critical period when it comes to environmental protection and public's expectations are growing for the government to do critical action.
In 2014, the country started its campaign against pollution as a response to the growing public discontent about the condition of the country's sky, water and soil since they began industrialization in 1978. Since then, several campaigns have been aimed in curbing industrial pollution, introduced environmental law and increased emission standards and clean energy use.
The country has managed to bring down the average concentrations of PM2.5 down to 6.5% last year, but it remains higher than the national standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter in smog-high regions.
Last month, the China's environment ministry warned that the battle against smog has reached a "stalemate" and experts have also called for more targeted measures to improve air quality.
