China ponders cost of energy-guzzling industries

China is often criticised for the amount of power it uses to generate each dollar of national income — four times as much as the United States and nearly 12 times as much as Japan, the official Xinhua agency said.

Beijing has launched an efficiency drive to improve this figure, but as a developing nation where electrical appliances are still out of reach for many, power use on a per-person basis is far lower than these countries and some officials are starting to protest that China is taking the strain for other nations.

“We are producing some highly energy-intensive products in China on behalf of other countries,” said researcher Jiang Xiaojun from a think tank attached to China’s cabinet at a recent conference.

Reuters AlertNet