Premier Wen Jiabao said during an inspection tour to east China over the weekend that the country would rely on science and technology advancements to meet its carbon emissions reduction targets.
When visiting the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wen encouraged researchers to develop key technologies for electric vehicles and vehicles with high energy efficiency and low emissions.
He said China would adjust its "consumption policies" to push for the development of automobiles with low emissions and high energy efficiency, and "vigorously support" the development of electric cars.
On Thursday, the State Council announced to cut China's carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2020 by 40 to 45 percent from the level of 2005.
While visiting Shanghai and the neighboring Jiangsu province, Wen called for a more balanced and energy-efficient economic development model.
Economic growth should also rely on a balanced development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, rather than on manufacturing alone, Wen said.
Scientific and technological advancements, improvement in workers' qualities and innovations in management models should take over consumption of resources as the driving force for growth, he said.
Wen also visited the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China based in Shanghai and the construction sites of 2010 Shanghai Expo. In Jiangsu, he visited retail, hi-tech companies and talked with university students.