China's booming environmental protection sector is making an increasing contribution to national economic growth, an official with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Tuesday.

With a direct contribution of 1.8 percent to GDP, sector proceeds reached some 2.18 trillion yuan ($320 billion) last year, said Zou Shoumin, head of the ministry's Department of Science, Technology and Finance, quoting data from the China Association of Environmental Protection Industry.

Compared to 2020, proceeds increased by 11.8 percent, 3.7 percentage points higher than the GDP growth rate, he said.

"As a strategic emerging sector, environmental protection is a new source of national economic growth," he noted, adding that its development is also adding powerful momentum to the national pollution control campaign.

China now leads the world in ultralow emission technologies and equipment for thermal power plants, the construction of large-scale waste incineration plants, and the control of coal-fired flue gas, he said.

Thanks to technological progress, he said, the country has realized ultralow emissions in coal-fired power plants with a total installed capacity of 950 million kilowatts, and in steel plants with total annual capacity of 620 million metric tons since 2016.

"The development of the environmental protection sector has made a marked contribution to environmental and ecological improvement," he said.

According to the ministry, the average density of PM 2.5 particulate matter last year in major cities dropped by 34.8 percent on 2015 levels.