China's green efforts

More than 700 people from Chinese and foreign governments, research institutes, companies and non-government organizations have gathered at a forum in Nanchang, in east China's Jiangxi province, to seek approaches to develop a low-carbon economy and deal with climate change. Speaking on Friday at the World Low Carbon and Eco-economy Conference and Technical Exposition, which runs until Tuesday (Nov. 15), Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), reiterated China will work to reduce emission of carbon dioxide per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by 17 percent by 2015 compared to the level in 2010. He made the remarks after the State Council, or the Cabinet, approved a plan to cut greenhouse gas emission through methods including exploration of a carbon-emissions trading market, promotion of carbon trade in pilot regions and a national carbon accounting system. Wu Xiaoqing, Vice Minister of Environment Protection, said at the forum that China will invest 3 trillion yuan (about 473.1 billion U.S. dollars) in this area in the next five years. Later this month, China will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Durban, South Africa. Details of China's targets and recent efforts in terms of emission cuts and energy conservation are summarized below. During China's 11th five-year plan period (covering 2006-2010), China managed to meet its stated goals. The country achieved an average annual economic growth of 11.2 percent in the five years to 2010, with an average growth of 6.6 percent in energy consumption per year. Energy use per unit of GDP dropped 19.1 percent, and emission of sulfur dioxide declined 14.29 percent. Energy-saving efforts helped reduce emission of carbon dioxide by 1.46 billion tonnes. China also shut down small thermal power units with a combined capacity of 76.8 million kw and eliminated over 120 million tonnes of outdated iron production capacity, 72 million tonnes of outdated steel production capacity, and 370 million tonnes of outdated cement production capacity. Before the end of 2015, China vows to cut energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent, and slash carbon dioxide emission by 17 percent. Energy use per 10,000 yuan of GDP will drop to 0.869 tonnes of coal equivalent by 2015, compared with 1.034 tonnes in 2010. China will have saved 670 million tonnes of coal equivalent by then. The value-added output of the service sector will account for 47 percent of the country's GDP by 2015, and that of strategic new industries will contribute 8 percent. China will also lift use of non-fossil fuels to account for 11.4 percent of primary energy consumption and raise forest coverage rate to 21.66 percent by 2015. Recent major measures: On Nov. 11, China's ministries issued a notice that frees buyers of new energy-saving cars in 25 pilot cities from restrictive measures including plate license auctions and drawing lots to qualify for purchase. On Nov. 4, the NDRC unveiled a roadmap in phasing out incandescent light bulbs. Imports and sales of 100-watt-and-higher incandescent light bulbs will be banned as of Oct. 1. This will be followed by a ban on imports and sales of 60-watt-and-above incandescent light bulbs starting from Oct. 1, 2014. The same rule will apply to incandescent light bulbs of 15 watts or higher from Oct. 1, 2016. On Nov. 1, China' s new resource tax policy took effect, which levies a tax on crude oil and natural gas products at 5 percent of sales nationwide rather than production volume. On Sept. 7, the Chinese government announced that it would amend the requirements that producers of energy-saving vehicles have to meet in order to qualify for state subsidies. From Oct. 1, cars weighing 1,205 kg to 1,320 kg must have average fuel consumption of 6.3 liters of gasoline per 100 km to qualify for state subsidies of 3,000 yuan a vehicle. The new rule replaced the previous fuel criterion of 6.9 liters per 100 km, in place since June 1, 2010. On May 6, the Ministry of Finance said it would continue to allocate funds to reward companies in underdeveloped regions for eliminating outdated production capacity over the next five years. On Aug. 10, 2010, the NDRC launched a national scheme based around low-carbon initiatives in five provinces -- Guangdong, Liaoning, Hubei, Shaanxi and Yunnan -- and in eight cities -- Tianjin, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Guiyang and Baoding.