China plays tough in energy-saving campaign

BEIJING - While China fell behind its energy saving targets from 2011 to 2013, tough measures will be taken to conserve energy, an official said Monday.

Xie Zhenhua, vice minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, said at a forum that work is needed to keep up with its energy saving schedule by 2015.

China aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 16 percent from the 2010 level by 2015, according to the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

The indicator dropped 9.03 percent from 2011 to 2013, accounting for only 54 percent of the overall target while 60 percent should have been completed.

Xie said local governments that failed to finish their energy-saving tasks would be required to report to the central government, and no new polluting and energy intensive projects would be started in those regions.

China will lower the upper limit of energy consumption for provinces with serious smog issues or those with the greatest energy use, while raise the ceiling for less-developed regions.

In an action plan to reduce emissions and save energy in 2014 and 2015 released last month, China made it clear that energy use per unit of GDP must drop by 3.9 percent annually this year and next year.