China struggling to meet energy, pollution goals

BEIJING (Reuters) - China said it faces a "considerably arduous task" to reach energy saving and pollution reduction goals for the five years through 2010 due to the rapid expansion of energy-intensive and high-polluting industries.

With the economy still growing too fast, the service sector accounting for a declining share of GDP and the proportion of high-tech manufacturing in the country's value-added industrial output falling, China's reliance on heavy industry has not changed, the official Xinhua news agency said late Tuesday.

Beijing had laid out a plan to cut energy use in each dollar of GDP generated by 20 percent and reduce discharges of major pollutants by 10 percent in the five years through 2010.

But after it failed to meet the annual target for 2006, the first year of the campaign, it has not published the annual goals for subsequent years.

"This year is key to realize the five-year goals, and more resolution and more efforts are needed for a breakthrough in energy saving and pollution reduction work," the report said, citing a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

To reach goals set for this year, China will take a series of measures including strengthening performance evaluation, curbing development of energy and pollution-intensive industries, eliminating outdated production capacity and beefing up monitoring of major pollution sources.

The country will shut down small coal-fired power generators producing 13 gigawatts this year and require at least 80 percent of buildings under construction to meet energy-saving standards for the construction process by the end of 2008, the report said.

(Reporting by Jim Bai; editing by Jonathan Hopfner)