The country's top legislature is expected to complete
its amendment to the Energy Conservation Law by the end of the
year, in a bid to create an energy-saving society, a top official
said yesterday.
Xu Dingming, vice chairman of the Office of the
National Energy Leading Group, said that China's rapid economic
development has led to a situation where conserving energy and
improving energy efficiency is now a priority.
"Against this backdrop, the National People's Congress
(NPC) Standing Committee is busy amending the
current Energy Conservation Law to make it more in tune with
economic growth and energy efficiency," he said at the China Oil
and Gas Summit 2007 yesterday.
Han Wenke, director of the Energy Research Institute
under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said
the current Energy Conservation Law, which was enacted in January
1998, should be updated to reflect the new economic
perspective.
"New developments within the energy market over recent
years have made the existing Energy Conservation Law outdated. Its
aim is to curb consumption and promote efficiency and that is why
we have to revise it to suit the current conditions," Han
said.
He also said governments and enterprises should be
better monitored to be sure they are complying with regulations and
any policy questions they have should be properly
clarified.
According to Xu, China's energy consumption in 2006
was up 9.3 percent year on year, while energy output grew by 7.2
percent on 2005. The figures demonstrate an obvious imbalance
between output and consumption, he said.
China's energy consumption
per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.23 percent year on
year in 2006, the first annual decline since 2003. But this was
still below the government's target of 4 percent. China is
determined to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent,
equivalent to 4 percent each year, during the country's 11th
Five-Year Plan (2006-10).
These points demonstrate the importance of having
legal support for energy conservation, Han said.
In 1997, the NPC Standing Committee enacted the Energy
Conservation Law, which governs energy administration, the proper
use of energy resources, promotion of energy-saving technology and
environmental protection.
Revision of the law began last year, at which time the
Xinhua News Agency quoted Li Tieying, vice chairman of the NPC
Standing Committee, as saying that the law no longer met China's
development requirements.
Li said the NPC Standing Committee intended to revise
the Energy Conservation Law to maintain a strong legal framework
for building an energy-efficient society, Xinhua
reported.
(China Daily March 23,
2007)
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