China ahead of schedule with 2014 energy targets

BEIJING -- China is doing well of energy-saving targets this year since the government introduced tougher regulations after falling behind in the 2011-2013 period, China's top economic planner said Wednesday.

China's energy intensity the amount of energy consumed per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) may fall by around 4.7 percent, said Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a forum on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, it was decided that energy intensity must drop by 3.9 percent both this year and next year.

Also at the forum, vice-minister of industry and information technology Su Bo said outdated production capacity had reduced by 75 million tons of steel, 570 million tons of cement and 152 million standard containers of plate glass during the 2011-2014 period, already beating the target set for 2015.

Xie said China will continue to step up efforts to save energy and cut emissions next year with several hydropower and nuclear power projects planned.

China's 2011-2015 five-year plan aims to reduce the carbon intensity, by 16 percent and the carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP by 17 percent.