President Xi Jinping today vowed to punish polluters in China with an iron hand, days after a documentary blamed the country's pollution for over half a million deaths annually.
"We are going to punish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy ecology or environment, with no exceptions," Xi said while reviewing the work report of the Cabinet together with National People's Congress deputies from Jiangxi Province.
China along with the US makes up top two polluters in the world.
Xi asked the Chinese to protect ecology and environment to "care one's own eyes and life," showing his resolve to curb widespread pollution in the world's most populous country.
"Protecting environment is ensuring livelihood," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.
In his budget speech yesterday, Premier Li Keqiang announced 3.1 per cent cut in energy intensity to reduce the emission of major pollutants.
Annually over half a million people die prematurely due to burning of coal in china, according to a documentary by former China Central Television presenter Chai Jing, highlighting China's air pollution woes.
