China still on the way to going green

Although China is moving forward on the road to energy conservation, it still has a long journey ahead if it is to hit the five-year goal of reducing energy intensity by 20 percent, statistics reveal.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, National Development and Reform Commission and National Energy Administration showed that in 2007, the country consumed 1.16 tons of coal equivalent when it produced 10,000 yuan of GDP, a 3.66 percent year-on-year decrease.
Compared with 1.226 tons of coal equivalent per 10,000 yuan of GDP, which was set as base year for the country’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), China reduced by 5.7 percent, failing to reach the expected average level of 8 percent.

“The figures can prove China’s stout efforts in improving energy efficiency, but it still remains hard for it to hit the goal, because the economic structure is difficult to change in the short term,” said Zhuang Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank in Beijing

China Daily