BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China has issued an action plan to improve efficiency in using water for industrial purposes in the regional cluster of Beijing, its neighboring port city of Tianjin, and Hebei Province.
The action plan was jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Finance.
By 2022, the water consumption efficiency of key industries with high water consumption in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will reach the international advanced levels, according to the plan.
Companies are encouraged to use recyclable water such as seawater, rainwater and mine water. For example, enterprises near mines are encouraged to use mine water, while steel, petrochemical and thermal power enterprises in the coastal areas are encouraged to use seawater as circulating cooling water directly.
A number of seawater desalination projects will be launched, according to the plan.
China rolled out a plan in 2015 for the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Progress has been made in many fields including environmental protection, public services and transport.
