A senior official of China's top economic planner Wednesday said China will likely reach its goal of improving energy efficiency by 20 percent from 2006 to 2010.

"Due to the unremitting efforts of local and central governments, the target of a 20-percent reduction in energy consumption relative to economic output is within reach," said Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, at a press conference.

In the four years from 2006 to 2009, small thermal power plants with a total capacity of 60 million kilowatts were shut down.

In the same period, the authorities phased out inefficient production capacity of 87.12 million tons of steel, 60.38 million tons of iron and 214 million tons of cement, said Xie.

The government had also allocated 128.5 billion yuan (US$19.22 billion) from its central budget to energy-efficiency and environmental protection projects during the four years, and the fund for this year would reach 83.3 billion yuan, he said.

Official statistics show China's consumption of energy relative to economic output rose in the first half by 0.09 percent from the same period last year after the government announced it had fallen by 15.6 percent from 2005 to 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2010)