China to cut energy use by 21%

BEIJING--China will cut energy consumption by 21 percent by 2015 and will shut down inefficient companies in more than 10 industries because of overcapacity, high energy consumption, and pollution, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Monday.

In an energy savings outline, the ministry said that during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), energy consumption increased from around 1.6 billion tons of standard coal in 2005 to 2.4 billion tons in 2010. The ministry aims to reduce consumption by 670 million tons of standard coal in the next four years.

"By the end of 2015, high emission industries such as steel, non-ferrous metal, petrifaction, and electronic components all need to reduce their energy consumption by around 20 percent," the outline said.

Besides closing down inefficient companies, China will strictly control the growth of industries and enterprises with high energy consumption and high pollution.

Also, the government will encourage domestic and overseas companies to cooperate in the field of energy saving, and seek to accelerate the introduction of foreign energy-saving technologies. Qualified Chinese energy companies will be encouraged to go abroad to build factories and industrial parks, the outline said.