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China must cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 7% annually

By Si Tingting (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-03 18:00

China's think tank has said the country should cut its energy consumption per unit of GDP by 7 percent in 2009 and 2010 to achieve its goal of reducing energy intensity by around 20 percent from 2006 to 2010.

The think tank has based its forecast largely due to the slow pace of energy conservation since 2006.

Related readings:  China per-unit energy consumption down 2.88%  New energy consumption standards released  China reports drops in energy consumption, pollution

In the newly published 2009 Blue Book of China's Economy, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said if China does not redouble or triple its efforts to lower energy consumption, the pledged target will not be achieved.

Qi Jianguo and Peng Xushu, two researchers at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the per unit GDP energy consumption in the past three years fell 7.84 percent, with an average annual decline rate of 2.68 percent. However, to meet the goal set in the 11th Five-Year Plan, the annual average decline in the five years should be 4 percent.

Based on the performance during past three years, the saving rate has to be raised to 6.83 percent in the coming two years, 2.5 times that of the annual average in the past three years.

"This would be a tough job," said Qi Jianguo in the "Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Situation Analysis and Policy Advice" report. According to the article, the current year has seen significant progress in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, with 3.5 percent more energy conserved than that of 2007.

Qi and Peng are of the view that China should not neglect energy conservation and emission reduction while striving to keep the economic growth rate at 9 percent.

"The country should try to balance economic development and environment, and actually the investment in environmental protection could be the driving force of our economy," they said.