China urged local officials Sunday to prepare their own energy efficiency plans in a bid to save a floundering plan to drastically reduce energy consumption, state media said.
Local government departments and state enterprises must report back to Beijing with detailed plans by June 30, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing a circular issued earlier in the day by the State Council, or Cabinet.
The Chinese government set a goal of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by 2010, but failed miserably in 2006, the first year of implementation.
Energy consumption fell only 1.23 percent last year, less than one third of the annual goal of four percent. The failure "adds difficulties" to meeting targets for energy saving and discharge reduction in the remainder of the decade, Xinhua said, citing the State Council circular.
Adding to the sense of urgency, the "six high energy-consuming industries" - electricity, steel, non-ferrous metals, construction materials, oil processing and chemicals - had grown rapidly so far this year, it said.
The industries, which account for nearly 70 percent of energy consumption and sulfur dioxide discharges for the entire industrial sector, grew by 20.6 percent in the first quarter, according to Xinhua.