China's state-owned enterprises need to meet an overall objective of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by about 16% from the 2010 level in the five years to 2015, China's regulatory watchdog State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said Wednesday.
"State enterprises must assess the situation and tackle the issue, and they must implement effective measures in order to achieve the energy conservation targets," according to a statement by Huang Shuhe, vice chairman of SASAC, which is both a regulator and shareholder of the country's largest state companies.
As of August 2010, SASAC oversees 123 state-owned companies including the nation's largest power generators, oil companies, steel mills and mining companies.
Huang also said that Chinese state enterprises will also need to reduce emissions of major pollutants such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide well below the national average by 2015.
Huang was speaking during a meeting to discuss energy conversation by state-owned enterprises.
The speech reiterates earlier messages by various government officials on China's targets on energy conservation and emissions reduction over the next five years.
For the 12th Five-Year plan that runs between 2011 and 2015, the country has set a target of reducing energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16-17% from 2010 levels.
Earlier, Beijing also pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared with 2005 levels, and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in its energy consumption to around 15% by 2020 from 8% currently.
During a seminar in Australia in March, Xie Zhenhua, a deputy director of the country's top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission told delegates that China will hit outdated highly polluting companies with a hefty electricity surcharge as part of a push to dramatically slow the growth of the country's greenhouse emissions over the next five years.
China has singled out companies in eight energy-intensive industries, including iron and steel, cement, aluminum and iron alloy, for a special surcharge on their electricity payments, said Xie.
