The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, requested pioneer provinces and cities planning to carry out low-carbon pilot programs include details in their 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

NDRC Vice Chairman Xie Zhenhua said commissioners will arrange related departments and organizations to study the opinions and suggestions proposed by local governments. Then, he said, they will make relevant policies, promote communications among pioneer provinces and cities and help fix major problems in seeking a development path suitable for China's low-carbon economy.

He said China's low-carbon pilot program has a good start, and the NDRC will also promote cooperation with developed countries − as well as developing countries − in low-carbon development.

In August 2010, the NDRC launched a low-carbon pilot program on the provincial and city levels. Guangdong, Liaoning, Hubei, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces and eight cities − Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Guiyang and Baoding − became the program's pioneers. Their local governments have committed to draft low-carbon development plans, establish low-carbon industries and promote low-carbon lifestyles and consumption as a way to confront global climate change.

By Qiang Xiaoji