Chinese President Xi Jinping has underlined efforts to cultivate the good habit of garbage classification to improve the living environment and contribute to green and sustainable development.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction on garbage sorting.

He stressed that garbage sorting is not only related to the living environment but also to the economical use of resources, which is an important manifestation of the level of social civilization.

Xi pointed that the key to implementing garbage sorting is to strengthen scientific management, form a long-term mechanism and promote habit formation. 

We should carry out extensive education and guidance programs to create public awareness regarding the importance and necessity of garbage classification, President Xi said, adding that through effective supervision and guidance, more people should take action to cultivate the good habit of garbage classification.

In December 2016, while chairing the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs, President Xi emphasized the importance of speeding up the establishment of a garbage sorting system for classified throwing, collection, shipping and recycling.

The Chinese president has inspected the work of garbage sorting at grassroots level on many occasions, and put forward clear requirements for this work.

In recent years, China has accelerated the implementation of a garbage sorting system.

China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued "The Implementation Plan of Garbage Sorting" in March 2017, which requires 46 cities nationwide to carry out mandatory garbage sorting, guiding residents to sort garbage on their own

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Over 300 Chinese cities at or above the prefecture level started household garbage sorting this year.

By the end of 2020, the garbage sorting system will be built in 46 major cities in the country and by the end of 2025, the system will be built in all Chinese cities at or above the prefecture level.

(With inputs from Xinhua)