BEIJING -- China will pilot a comprehensive ecological compensation mechanism in 50 county-level areas to better balance economic development and environmental protection, according to a plan released by the top economic planner.

The pilot program aims to explore new ways of using ecological compensation funds and channels of funding, as well as encourage all stakeholders to enhance ecological protection, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The plan seeks to transform the development model in the selected counties, which will be in the China's key ecological function areas, with a key task of coordinating the interests of protectors and beneficiaries of forests and rivers.

Special industries with ecological advantages will be better developed in the pilot counties, including many poverty-stricken ones, in areas including Tibet autonomous region and provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.

The pilot program aims to establish an ecological compensation mechanism that substantially boosts voluntary protection and suits local economic development levels by 2022.