Govt promotes energy-efficient buildings

Five ministries yesterday vowed to join hands to enhance the building energy efficiency (BEE) of new structures this year in a bid to save energy and reduce pollution.

"The government will create a stricter supervision system and play a greater role in guiding the construction market," Qiu Baoxing, deputy minister of housing and urban construction, told a press conference in Beijing.

To counter a trend of ingenuously dubbing buildings as "energy-saving", the authority will form six to 10 expert groups to enhance supervision work among 30 provinces at the end of this year, Qiu said.