NANNING - China has become the world's biggest investor in renewable energy sources, said a senior environmental official on Saturday during a forum held in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

China invested over 300 billion yuan ($47.31 billion) in renewable energy sources in 2010, outranking every other country, said Wang Yuqing, deputy director of the Committee of Population, Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee.

The official of China's top advisory body estimated that more than 3,000 billion yuan ($473.1 billion) would be poured into industries related to environmental protection from 2011 to 2015.

Issues relating to the environment and resources are becoming more urgent in China, as the world's second-largest economy is currently on its fast track to industrialization, said Wang, who is also the president of the Chinese Society For Environmental Sciences.

The Chinese's government is now fully aware that China must develop its economy in a green way, and is striving to nurture green industries, Wang added.