A campaign has begun to ensure the elimination of high-energy consuming and heavy-polluting industries, China's top economic planner has announced.

The campaign, aimed at curbing excessive growth of energy consuming and polluting industries, will run until the end of June, according to National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The NDRC, with Ministry of Finance, the State Environmental Protection Administration and five other authorities, will lead the campaign, focusing on the iron and steel, copper, alumina, cement, power and coking sectors.

Monitors will investigate the local implementation of central government macro controls on the energy consuming and polluting industries, including eliminating out-dated production capacities, reducing exports of energy-expensive, high-pollution and resource-depleting products, and correcting local preferential policies, such as taxes and land prices, for these industries.

The added value of the top six high-energy consuming industries rose by 20.6 percent in the first quarter of 2007 from the same period of 2006. The output of alumina increased by 53.7 percent while investment in non-ferrous metal industries was up 56.5 percent.

Under a five-year plan starting in 2006, China pledged to cut consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 percent overall, or 4 percent each year, but consumption per unit of GDP fell by just 1.23 percent last year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2007)