In its proposals for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has said that the country should lower its energy consumption and carbon emission per unit of GDP drastically, reduce pollution level dramatically and improve the environment.

They are among the main goals of China's economic and social development in the next five years and will be deliberated at the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's parliament, which opens on Saturday.

Since the goals reflect the challenges that China will face in the next five years, it should set specific targets for reducing carbon emission and improving the environment, says Frances Beinecke, president of Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

"There won't be adequate improvement if specific targets are not there to be achieved," says Beinecke, who has worked with the largest environmental action group in the United States for more than 30 years and became its president five years ago. "The way to know your progress is to set a target and meet it. Otherwise, it will be just general desire; you wouldn't know whether you were improving the conditions."

"China is powering a fast-growing economy. That demands a lot of energy, and the result of energy development is an increase in carbon emissions," she says. New industries and manufacturing will develop as new engines of economic development, but these will cause "environmental consequences", too.

To address these challenges, China must "move its clean energy economy forward, set targets for carbon reduction and develop strategies to deal with climate change - something we are trying to do in the US but without as much success."

Also, "it is very important to enhance the environmental protection system, and ensure (that) it is fully implemented and enforced" in the next five years. There should be particular targets for reducing air and water pollution, while strengthening a legal system that allows for compensation and helps citizens address the sources of pollution, she says.

NRDC started its China program 15 years ago when the country's economic growth began having "significant" environmental impact. Five years ago, when China's carbon emissions were rising fast, the organization started its own five-year plan in the country. It has been working with businesses and provincial governments and pushing for changes in business practices and policies to improve the environment and cut carbon emissions. It has helped set standards for green buildings and green processes for the textile industry, too, to achieve energy efficiency and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

"If we are going to work on issues such as curbing global warming, we will have to be in places where major contributions are taking place." Beinecke, who has visited China five times since 1998, says the growth in China is just "amazing". But growth has come with "environmental consequences such as air pollution - you can see it, experience it and read about its extent".