BEIJING - For
the first time, China has published a list of
energy consumption in 2005 for each of its 31
provinces on the mainland, except Tibet. This is also the
first time that China has ever compiled and
publicized statistics on gross domestic product
(GDP) energy efficiency; ie, how much energy is
consumed to generate 10,000 yuan (US$1,250) of
GDP.
The statistics, generated by the
National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC),
the National Bureau of Statistics and the National
Energy Leading Group Office, also include energy
consumption figures for every 10,000 yuan of
industrial value-added output.
According
to the list, Guangdong was the most
energy efficient province, with its energy
consumption for every 10,000 yuan of
GDP
being equivalent to the burning of 0.79 tonnes of
thermal coal last year. Beijing ranked second,
with 0.8 tonnes of coal consumed for 10,000 yuan
of GDP.
The Ningxia Hui Autonomous
Region in northwest China was the most energy
inefficient province, burning 4.14 tonnes of
thermal coal to generate 10,000 yuan of GDP.
The national average was 1.22 tonnes,
which was much lower than previous official
estimates. And the national average of energy
consumption for every 10,000 yuan in industrial
value-added output was equivalent to the burning
of 2.59 tonnes of thermal coal in 2005.
Using energy consumption per unit of GDP
as a new yardstick to measure economic development
and officials' performance was first officially
proposed by Premier Wen Jiabao in March. In his
Government Work Report to the annual session of
the National People's Congress (NPC) in March, Wen
set a target of cutting energy consumption per
unit of GDP by 4% each year for the next five
years.
Beijing adopted this new yardstick
in order to reduce wasteful consumption of energy
in pursuit of sustainable economic growth. Beijing
has blamed the wasteful energy consumption on
local officials' "blindly" chasing after GDP
growth.
At that time, the Chinese media
quoted official figures as saying that the average
energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP was
equivalent to burning of 2.6 tonnes of thermal
coal, more than double the 1.22 tonnes reported by
the latest statistics.
Nevertheless, the
revised energy consumption per unit of GDP in
China is still about three times that of the
United States and 10 times that of Japan,
according to Zhang Jianyu, a visiting scholar at
Tsinghua University in Beijing.
"The list
will help provincial officials compare themselves
with other regions, and push them to improve
efficiency," said Zhou Dadi, director general of
the Energy Research Institute of the NDRC, the
nation's top economic planning body. "Officials
will be assessed in terms of energy saved, instead
of just the GDP growth rate which they were
measured on in the past," said Zhou. "Energy
efficiency will take top priority in the promotion
of officials."
As for Ningxia's poor
performance in energy efficiency, Zhou explained
that the region's economic growth was highly
dependent on heavy industries such as metal
production.
"It is good to require
provinces and industries to take part in this
energy-saving drive," he said. But he warned
against fraud in the reporting of energy
consumption by some regions. It was unclear
whether the data used to compile the just-released
list were gathered by the three central government
bodies or only presented to them by the respective
provinces.
A recent report on world energy
resources by BP, one of the world's largest energy
groups, said that although China had maintained a
rapid rate of growth, its energy consumption
growth rate had declined from 15.5% in 2004 to
9.5% in 2005. In terms of oil consumption, China's
growth also slowed from 17% in 2004 to only 2.9%
in 2005, according to BP's Statistical Review on
World Energy.
According to the BP report,
the average price of Brent crude oil was US$54.52
per barrel in 2005, surging more than 40%
year-on-year; current prices are considerably
higher.
Xu Dingming, deputy director of
the General Office of the National Energy Leading
Group and former director of the NDRC's Energy
Bureau, said he fully agreed with the view of BP.
He said it was unfair and not a scientific
attitude to make the groundless accusation that
China had directly caused the high oil prices on
international market.
The BP statistics
indicated that although China's oil imports
dropped sharply last year, oil prices still rose
substantially, Xu said. Gary Dirks, vice president
of BP and president of BP (China), also said that
when China's consumption of oil dropped,
international oil prices still continued rising
from 2004.
To curb the growth of
energy-thirsty industries, the NDRC has decided to
increase the price of electricity by an average of
0.025 yuan per kilowatt-hour since last July 7.
The price adjustment, according to the NDRC, will
not have a huge impact on household expenses.
"It will promote the development of
renewable energy, fund more power grid projects
and resolve the contradiction caused by rising
coal prices," said a statement issued by the NDRC.
