Law revised to reduce energy costs   (Xinhua)  Updated: 2006-08-07 09:09  
China is revising a law to make it possible to impose harsher punishment on 
energy lavishment, the government said Sunday, at a time when fast economic 
growth is unabatedly costing excessive energy resources.
  The Financial 
and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress, or China's top 
legislature, and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) are 
jointly making a proposed revision for the Law on Saving Energy resources, which 
is expected to be completed later this year, an NDRC source told 
Xinhua.
  The law was put into effect eight years ago, but has since banned 
no projects failing to meet energy-saving requirement. The government is 
worrying that it is difficult to reach this year's target of reducing energy 
costs for per unit gross domestic product.
  The revised law will feature 
strengthened enforcement and supervision and include both incentives for saving 
energies and punitive measures against energy-lavishing behavior, the NDRC said, 
without giving details.
  It will typically target the construction sector, 
which now accounts for one-third of all energy costs in China. Construction 
projects that do not meet energy-use demands will be off-limits, the source 
said.   (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)  
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