China will push comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable
economic and social development, paying attention to energy
conservation and environmental protection, Chinese Vice-Premier
Zeng Peiyan said on Sunday.
Zeng made the remarks on Sunday at the opening ceremony of the
China Development Forum.
He said China will accelerate development of the service
industry and promote expansion of domestic demand.
Great efforts will be made to develop renewable energy and
alternative energy.
The country's failure to meet its annual energy saving and
pollution control targets last year was mainly attributed to slow
progress in industrial restructuring and fast growth in sectors
that consumed more energy and discharged more pollutants, according
to previous reports.
To meet its energy saving and emission reduction targets in
the2006 to 2010 period, China plans to close small thermal power
generating units with a total capacity of 50 million kilowatts, 100
million tons of outmoded iron production capacity and 55 million
tons of outmoded steel production capacity by 2010, said Zeng.
According to the government's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010),
energy consumption for every 10,000-yuan (1,298 U.S. dollars) of
gross domestic product should be reduced by 20 percent by the end
of that period.
Meanwhile, the discharge of sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen
demand (COD) should drop by 10 percent.
China will establish a price mechanism to reflect energy
scarcities and the costs of pollution and improve its financial,
taxation and legal system to encourage energy saving and
environmental protection, said Zeng.
Zeng also said that China will strive for realizing basic
equilibrium of balance of international payments, promote
coordinated development of the eastern, central and western
regions, push forward scientific and technological renovation and
accelerate building of a harmonious society.
(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2007)