China
's
energy intensity rose 0.09% from a year earlier in the January-June period, the
National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.
While the increase was slower than in the first quarter, it indicates
China
still
faces challenges in its goal to reduce energy intensity by a fifth from 2005
levels by this year.
Energy intensity--energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product--rose
3.2% between January and March.
It was 15.6% lower at the end of last year than in 2005, the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology said last month.
To ensure more sustainable economic growth, the central government started
initiating a series of measures in May aimed at curbing consumption in
energy-intense industries.
The strategy includes increasing power tariffs for some industrial consumers and
scrapping export rebates for hundreds of products, including some steel and
metal products.
Energy consumption rose 11.2% on year in the first half of the year, the
statistics bureau said. The economy expanded 11.1% in the same period.