Sein-Way Tan is a modest man with a global ambition - to make cities environmentally sustainable and economically vibrant.
Smog shrouded Beijing again on Monday, three days after the city lifted its orange alert for heavy air pollution.
The United Nations has praised green initiatives on Shanghai's Chongming Island and will cite them in its publications as a prime example of ways to boost ecological development.
The war on pollution-and it is not just air pollution that needs to be addressed-is therefore a battle of great significance for people's livelihoods.
Smog has blanketed the Chinese capital for at least a week and the Great Hall of the People, where lawmakers will meet next week for the country's parliamentary session, is hardly visible.
A type of lung cancer reported to be increasing in Beijing has been linked to worsening air quality, with an expert warning that the potential health impact could be much greater than the SARS epidemic in 2003.
Unlike pollution-dogged Beijing, smog is new to Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which has long boasted a good natural environment.
Beijing residents who classify their garbage correctly prior to collection will be rewarded this year, the city's environment authority said on Wednesday.
Northwest China's Qinghai province has seen an expansion of its wetlands in the past decade, the provincial forestry department announced on Saturday.
Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said Wednesday that environmental protection is one of the priorities of the current-term government.
Nearly 9 percent of China's wetlands have vanished over the past decade as urban development has increased, a change that experts said shows the need for regulation to protect the natural resource.
Authorities in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region are considering building a successful business model for ecological industry on the vast prairies.
Beijing will extend its air quality monitoring network with more stations and focus on vehicles with high emission, confirmed the city environmental authority.
Despite pledges in the last year to fight pollution, Beijing saw barely any improvement in air quality in 2013.
Shanxi province has put forward a contingency plan to deal with heavy air pollution.
Authorities in a central Chinese city Monday called off a New Year fireworks show to avoid further dirtying the already smoggy air.
China's state environmental watchdog on Wednesday urged local environmental departments to make air quality information public and respond to public concerns in a timely manner.
China has introduced various emergency responses and long-term measures against air pollution in the central and eastern regions.
Besieged by piles of garbage, big cities in China are trying to sort out the long-running saga of waste sorting.
Beijing will replace 80 percent of its buses with new-energy and clean-fuel vehicles by the end of 2017 in an attempt to reduce vehicle emissions.