Vice Premier Li Keqiang said that China needs to accelerate resource tax reform to combat pollution and the country’s reliance on foreign imports, Reuters reported. Li, who is next in line for the position of the country’s premier, made the speech on environmental policy in December to a panel of energy scientists and government officials, but his comments were not released until Friday. Li argued that China will be unable to substantially decrease its reliance on coal, but that continued foreign imports create "big risks and also big costs." Li gave no indication of specific policies to be pursued during China’s next Five-Year Plan, but did say that the government must ensure that "polluters pay."
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