China to close dirty steel mills in conservation drive

China will close its dirtiest steel mills as it steps up efforts to rein in surging energy use and clean up environmental damage caused by its economic boom, Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday.

The government also will try to clean up polluted rivers and develop more energy-efficient technology, Wen said in a speech at the opening of the annual session of China’s legislature.
“We will take strong measures to save energy, lower energy consumption, protect the environment” and use limited farmland more effectively, the premier said.

Communist leaders have promised repeatedly to clean up China’s badly polluted environment, though they warn they are constrained by a need to promote economic growth and lack of technology.

The government also wants urgently to reduce reliance on imported oil, which it sees as a strategic weakness. China consumes several times as much energy per unit of economic output as the United States, Japan or other major economies.

International Herald Tribune