The State Council released a guideline to boost the country's energy-saving and environmental protection sector on August 1 and is expected to release preferential policies, according to a posting on the central government's website on Sunday.

Addressing the problems of energy-saving and environmental protection is a pressing task for the economic structural reform and could form a new growth point for the economy, said the guideline.

Preferential policies such as subsidies and government rewards are expected to boost technology upgrade in the sector and social funds are encouraged to take part in major environmental protection projects, according to the guideline.

Li Zuojun, a deputy director at the Development Research Center of the State Council, hailed the release of the guideline as a key move, which is conducive to the country's long-term restructuring efforts, the Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday.

The guideline said that urban environmental infrastructure projects as well as green buildings will get support, and environmentally friendly products will get preference in government purchase.

New energy vehicles will account for over 60 percent of the newly added public vehicles in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.