Government and Policy

Chinese Premier Wen chats online with Internet users

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-27 09:51

China to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP

Wen Jiabao said that the country aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 16 to 17 percent by 2015 from 2011 levels.

"The target should be met through solid efforts," Wen made the pledge during an online chat with netizens.

It is a rather arduous work to reach the goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by around 20 percent from 2005 levels by the end of 2010, he said," Even so, we achieved a 19.1 percent decrease."

Wen criticized the mandatory black-out of residential power supply by local governments. He decried such actions as "self-deceptive" and harmful to people's lives, ordering the localities to resume residential power  supply immediately.

The goal of energy saving and emission cut should be met through the closure of high energy-consuming enterprises such as small power plants and steel mills, he noted.

Over the past five years, China has gradually replaced outdated thermal power plants with environmentally-friendly ones, saving more than 300 million tonnes of coal.