(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-13 22:09

Dr. John Rutledge, an economic advisor to the administration of former US President Ronald Reagan, described this as a "responsible plan".

In 2007, emissions of sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in China decreased by 4.66 percent and 3.14 percent, respectively, year on year.

The government is currently carrying out the "Top 1,000 Enterprise Energy Efficiency Action Plan" and is implementing 10 major energy-saving projects. These included enhancing the efficiency of low-efficiency industrial boilers and improved energy-saving programs for oil refining, iron and steel companies.

Due to the government's efforts, China saw a 3.27 percent year-on-year drop in energy intensity in 2007 for each unit of GDP, equal to saving up to 89.8 million tons of standard coal.

To protect the environment and save energy, China shut down 29.4 million tons of outdated iron smelting capacity and 15.21 million tons of outdated steel smelting capacity as of November.

The country vowed last month to continue eliminating outdated production facilities this year, including small thermal power generating units with a combined capacity of 13 million kilowatts, and facilities with 50 million tons of cement, 6 million tons of steel and 14 million tons of iron.

China also scrapped export tax rebates on hundreds of products to curb energy-consuming and pollutant-discharging industries and exports of key natural resources.

China's central government planned to increase spending on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction schemes by 78 percent this year, with the total expenditure rising to 41.8 billion yuan from 23.5 billion yuan last year.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the BFA annual conference on Saturday, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised China's efforts of increasing its forest coverage.

He added Australia and other countries shared the same responsibility and should make joint efforts in reducing discharges and promoting sustainable development, including the protection of trees and forests.

The BFA was established in 2001 as a platform for high-level interaction between leaders from Asia and the world. The theme of this year's annual conference was "Green Asia: moving toward win-win through changes".

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