From our archives

Nov 3, 1983

Nation acts to stop energy wastage

Tough energy-saving measures are being introduced across China in a bid to eliminate "serious wastage" in industry and agriculture.

Though energy conservation over the past four years had saved the equivalent of 100 million tons of coal, or one sixth of the country's annual energy production, energy supplies still fell short of the needs of industry and agriculture, said Vice-Premier Li Peng.

China was using from two to three times the quantities of energy consumed by the industry and agriculture of developed countries, Li said.

Cement giants set to go

China's biggest cement plant - the Jidong Cement Plant in Tangshan of Hebei province, has been completed and will start production by the end of the year with an annual capacity of 1.55 million tons.

At the same time, another major cement plant in Anhui province is under construction. It is designed to produce 1.5 million tons of cement a year and scheduled to start production in September next year.

The completion of the two big cement plants will ease the strain on cement supply caused by the booming building trade.

Rural homes lit up by hydro power

The generating capacity of China's small hydroelectric power stations will increase by over 500 megawatts this year, according to a national conference on small hydroelectric power stations that has just concluded in Beijing.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's small hydroelectric power stations generated a total of 14.5 billion kilowatt-hours, 34 percent more than in the same period of last year.

It is estimated that 200,000 households in the countryside are now using electricity for cooking. The growth of small power stations will stimulate the development of the rural economy and help raise people's living standards.

(China Daily 11/04/2008 page9)