The air conditioning industry will further promote energy-efficiency ratings to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

"Energy-saving air conditioning is a good deal for consumers in the long term," said Wang Ruohong, deputy director of the China Energy Label Center under the China National Institute of Standardization.

"Green consumption will also help the country hit its target of cutting 20 percent of energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product from 2006 to 2010."

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The center issued the Management Method of Energy Efficiency Label in August 2004. It took effect on March 1, 2005.

The regulation required home appliances to carry a China Energy Label, indicating its energy-efficiency rating, from Class 1 to Class 5. Domestic refrigerators and air conditioners were the first two categories of products to meet the standards prescribed by the regulation.

Ma Yitai, from the Thermal Energy Research Institute of Tianjin University, told the forum that according to his estimation, the price of a Class 1 air conditioner is about double a Class 5 air conditioner, but consumes only 60 percent of the energy of a Class 5.

Dong Mingzhu, vice-chairman and president of Zhuhai Gree Xinyuan Electronic Co Ltd, said: "With the standardized label, it's easy for producers to promote green air conditioners."

"Before, when we were trying to persuade consumers to buy the energy-conserving air conditioners, they could not understand how much electricity could be saved and why the price was higher than normal."

However, Dong confessed that there are still some difficulties promoting green air conditioners.

A survey, conducted by Emerson Climate Technologies and released at the forum, said 75 percent of respondents said they know nothing about energy-efficiency labeling. More than 60 percent of those surveyed put energy efficiency as a priority in air conditioner consumption.