A homeless man washes his feet in sewage water in Xiangfan, in Hubei province March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has earmarked 41.8 billion yuan ($5.9 billion) to fund environmental protection and energy-saving projects this year, the finance ministry said on Monday.

In a statement posted on its Web site, www.mof.gov.cn, the ministry said the funds would be used to scrap obsolete capacity, improve sewerage in central and western China and clean up several rivers across the country.

It also said that China would consider setting up a “pay to pollute” regime and a trading system for pollution quotas.

The investments underscore the growing political emphasis on sustainable development in a country with some of the world’s most polluted air and rivers.

In 2006, China set a goal of cutting energy intensity, or the amount of energy needed to produce each $1 of output, by 20 percent by 2010, but it has already fallen well behind schedule. Energy intensity fell 1.33 percent in 2006 and 3 percent in 2007.

China has also cracked down on loans to polluters and raised the bar for investment in heavy industries such as cement, steel and smelting that consume large quantities of energy and belch out pollution.