Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong gives an interview after the second plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2023. Ni said at a recent meeting in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, that garbage sorting is one of the ministry's priorities this year. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – China plans to implement garbage sorting in over 90 percent of residential communities in cities at or above the prefecture level by the end of this year, and then raise the coverage ratio to 100 percent by the end of 2025.

Ni Hong, minister of housing and urban-rural development, said at a recent meeting in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, that garbage sorting is one of the ministry's priorities this year.

Garbage sorting is being carried out in 297 Chinese cities at an average coverage rate of 82.5 percent in residential communities

More efforts should be made to improve related laws, build household waste management platforms with information technologies, and strengthen waste incineration capacity, Ni said.

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Garbage sorting is being carried out in 297 Chinese cities at an average coverage rate of 82.5 percent in residential communities. Daily waste disposal capacity has reached 530,000 tonnes, with 77.6 percent of it achieved through incineration.

Starting this year, China will promote a garbage sorting publicity week annually during the fourth week of May. This year's event runs from Monday to Sunday.