Workers at the production line of a plant that makes environmentally friendly metallurgical equipment in Xuanhua, Hebei province. [Photo by Che Xiaodong/For China Daily]

China is expecting the output of its environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry to reach 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion) by 2020, as the country presses ahead with its green development plans.

The goal has been set in the guidelines for the development of the environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday.

China will foster 10 leading enterprises of around 10 billion yuan each as well as more than 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector by 2020. Key areas include equipment used for the prevention and treatment of air pollution, water pollution and solid waste, soil pollution and restoration, environmental monitoring and noise control, it said.

The total output of the sector reached 620 billion yuan last year, more than double the amount in 2011.

Describing the industry as an important technical foundation for environmental protection, the guidelines highlighted fiscal and financial support for the sector, including tax breaks as well as providing other financing instruments like green bonds and green credit.

The government will also strengthen the building of industry standards and attract more talent to boost the development of the sector.

Building a "Beautiful China" was listed by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, as one of the goals to be realized by 2035.

The CPC will strive for the basic realization of socialist modernization by 2035, and the modernization that the country pursues is one characterized by harmonious coexistence between man and nature, he said.

"In addition to creating more material and cultural wealth to meet people's ever-increasing needs for a better life, we need also to provide more quality ecological goods to meet people's ever-growing demand for a beautiful environment," Xi said.

Experts said China will meet and even exceed the 1 trillion yuan goal by 2020 as the industry has immense potential.

Zhou Dadi, a senior researcher at the China Energy Research Society, said that there are still huge untapped areas for growth in the environmental protection sector.

"More solid waste is expected as China continues its urbanization process, which calls for technological breakthroughs in waste disposal," said Zhou.

"The country also needs to address the pollution of its big rivers and coastal regions and ensure that everyone has access to safe drinking water."