However, failure to meet the annual goal shows that the economy still relies too much on energy and resource consumption, Zhou said.

Total energy consumption in 2006 rose year-on-year.

The consumption included 2.37 billion tons of coal, up 9.6 percent; 320 million tons of crude oil, up 7.1 percent; 55.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, up 19.9 percent; 416.7 billion kilowatt-hours of hydropower, up 5 percent; and 54.3 billion kilowatt-hours of nuclear power, up 2.4 percent.

The rise of coal consumption shows that China's economic growth still relies too much on coal, which is heavily polluting and inefficient, Zhou said.

The NDRC announced last month that China would shut down small coal-fired power units with total annual capacity of 50 million kilowatts over the next four years.

Xie Fuzhan, director of the NBS, predicted earlier this year that as fiscal, tax and price policies take effect and industrial restructuring speeds up, China would see greater reduction in energy consumption.

Xinhua contributed to the story

(China Daily 03/01/2007 page1)

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