BEIJING -- Stationary sources of pollution in China must have pollutant discharge licenses by 2020, according to a statement published by the General Office of the State Council.

The licenses must be born by target enterprises and government-affiliated institutions rather than the current system, which focuses on administrative regions only, it said.

Environmental protection agencies at or above the county level will verify and issue the licenses, and stricter management of enterprises and government-affiliated institutions will be enforced should they exceed their pollutant standards, it said.

Enterprises and government-affiliated institutions must monitor emissions and report the results to environmental agencies, the document said.

China will set up an information platform by 2017 to better manage pollutant discharge licenses and share data on pollutant emissions, it added.