China plans to increase efforts to curb pollution by temporarily suspending approvals for some investment projects, after falling short of its environmental goals for 2006, officials said yesterday.

The State Environmental Protection Administration said the country missed its target to reduce key emissions two percent last year as the economy grew faster than expected.

The agency said emissions of sulfur dioxide, the chief cause of acid rain, grew to 25.9 million tons in 2006, up 1.8 percent from 2005.

Chemical oxygen demand, a measure of water pollution, was 1.2 percent higher than in 2005.

China also missed its goal last year to reduce by four percent the amount of energy it needs to generate each dollar of national income.

The agency said it will publish biannual figures on emissions starting this year in each province to put more pressure on pollution-intensive industries to clean up.

China's goal is to reduce major emissions by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010.

To help achieve that target, the environmental agency said it will halt approvals of highly polluting investment projects in provinces that fail to meet their emissions goals.

The agency also said China plans to close many paper factories by the end of this year and increase electricity and water prices for highly polluting and energy-intensive industries.

The consumption of coal increased by nearly 230 million tons in 2006, resulting in the release of 2.8 million tons of sulfur dioxide, said Fan Yansheng, director of the environmental agency's pollution control department.

The output of paper products, one of the major causes of high chemical-oxygen demand, exceeded 58 million tons, an increase of 20 percent over 2005.

(Shanghai Daily February 13, 2007)