Three major events - the Environment and Development Summit, China International Ecological Environment Technology and Equipment Expo, and Environmental Friendly Society Exhibition — will be held in Beijing from Sept 16 to 18.

The development summit is a high-level forum that focuses on research and discussions of frontier environmental theories. The theme this year is "to deepen the reform and further promote environmental protection".

Organized by the All-China Environment Federation, a nongovernmental organization supervised by the Environmental Protection Ministry, the forum aims to provide theoretical consulting services on relevant political decisions.

"This year's three major events will involve more foreign experts and enterprises. To have more idea exchanges with the rest of world in eco-civilization is necessary," said Xie Yuhong, deputy secretary-general of the federation.

The expo will cover an area of about 40,000 square meters, and is the largest such in the past six years. About 30 percent of the exhibition areas are for overseas enterprises.

A project called "Beilei Healthy Air" was also launched by the federation on Thursday morning. The aim of the project is to give free air quality tests in 100 schools and kindergartens nationwide. Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai will be pilot cities for the project.