(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-29 16:12

BEIJING -- Chinese officials or enterprise leaders who fails in their energy conservation and emission reduction efforts will face scrutiny by a strict "one ballot veto", an environmental official said here on Thursday.

"Failure or success in achieving environmental targets has become an important assessment of local government performance," said Zhang Lijun, vice director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), at a press conference on energy conservation.

He said it would be implemented throughout the country and was a "unified requirement" of the Party and State Council.

Xie Zhenhua, deputy commissioner of the State Development and Restructuring Commission, told the press conference that officials who failed to meet targets would have to make a public explanation and also undergo public supervision.

"As long as emission reduction targets are not met or effective measures are not taken in time, officials concerned will have a fail on their evaluation sheet."

Failing government officials and enterprise leaders would also not be entitled to any honorary titles that year. In addition, high-pollution and high-consumption projects to be set up in the region would be suspended, Xie added.

Zhang said while the situation of energy conservation and emission reduction was "quite severe", the work was "going smoothly" this year. Party committees and government at all levels had strengthened efforts in this regard.

Statistics during the first three quarters revealed sulfur dioxide emissions in China fell 1.81 percent and the chemical oxygen demand, a measure of water pollution, dropped 0.28 percent.

Xie said China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) dropped three percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2007.

China has vowed to cut energy consumption used to generate per unit of GDP by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010. Major pollutant emissions are also expected to drop by 10 percent.

Xie said China would take the full economic, legal and administrative measures to reach the mandatory targets, the government's solemn promise to the people.