China will facilitate a green shift in urban and rural construction amid the country's efforts to achieve its carbon neutrality and carbon peaking goals, housing authorities said at a press conference on Thursday.

Efforts will be made to improve the structure and distribution of urban areas and strict restrictions will be imposed on the construction of skyscrapers, said Zhang Xiaohong, vice minister of housing and urban-rural development. 

The ministry will promote the green renovation of existing buildings to improve energy efficiency and optimize the energy structure for green, low-carbon urban construction, Zhang said, and the authorities will increase the number of low-carbon villages by promoting the use of renewable energy and optimizing the treatment of rural waste and sewage.

He also pointed out that a statistical monitoring system and an evaluation system for urban and rural construction will also be built to monitor dynamic carbon emissions and evaluate the green transformation of construction.

China issued guidelines in October underpinning green development in urban and rural areas, with the aim of making substantial progress on the green transformation of construction and solidly advancing carbon reduction by 2025.

(All images via VCG)

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