The government has set a target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent in five years starting from 2006, while controlling emissions of greenhouse gases. In early June, it announced an unprecedented National Climate Change Program.
The power industry was blamed for 54 percent of China's sulfur dioxide emissions. If the clean energy targets for 2010 were met, the program document said, the emission of 950 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent could be avoided.
Ma Kai said the government would consider the uniqueness of its resources and responsibility in maintaining the stability of the international energy market. It would stick to the basic strategy of self-reliance by accelerating the development of the energy industry and boosting capacity.
However, "self-reliance" also encompasses international cooperation. In the past year, China has participated in high-level international dialogues on energy issues. Frequent international communications allow the sharing of information, experience and technology, the exchange of personnel, joint investment and operation, and the trading of resources and products.
Besides importing more oil and gas, China shipped in markedly more coal in the first half of this year. In December last year, a company dedicated to procuring uranium abroad was inaugurated in Beijing. Imports helped meet the energy demand at home, and were occasionally more cost-effective than domestic products, an industry observer said.
From 1978 to 2005, China's primary energy consumption rose by 5.16 percent on average each year, while GDP grew by 9.6 percent. The energy sector had supported an economy that ran almost twice as fast as it did.
However, almost the entire nation except the capital, Beijing, failed to meet the target for reducing energy intensity last year. This makes it a more daunting task ahead.
"The targets can't be revised and we must work resolutely to reach them," Premier Wen Jiabao said in his Report on the Work of the Government, which was delivered in early March at the annual session of the National People's Congress, the top legislature of the country.
Source: Xinhua
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