China allocated 437.4 billion yuan ($69 billion) for ecological and environmental protection in 2021 and will make unremitting efforts in this regard to further meet people's needs for a good ecological environment, according to the Ministry of Finance at a press conference on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Finance will continue to use fiscal policies in a comprehensive manner to support resource conservation and environmental protection, said Liu Kun, Finance Minister.

"In 2021, the central government allocated 437.4 billion yuan for ecological and environmental protection. Meanwhile, we have also innovated a lot of financial management methods, and actively brought into play the leveraging role of financial funds to encourage the participation of private capital in ecological and environmental protection through the national green development fund and provincial soil pollution prevention and control fund," said Liu.

In 2021, the PM2.5 concentration in cities at prefecture level and above dropped by 9.1 percent year on year, and the percentage of days with good air quality was 87.5.

"We have also established a compensation mechanism for horizontal ecological conservation along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers; coordinated the systematic improvements of mountain, water, forest, farmland, lake, grass, sand and glacier system; actively developed a system of protected natural areas with national parks as the main body; continuously improved policies on green procurement of the government; and effectively promoted green and low-carbon economic and social transformation," said Liu.

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