THE Chinese Government is aiming to allow primary energy consumption rise by only 0.9 percent in 2016, the same as last year, as it tries to boost efficiency and control emissions.

    The country is targeting total 2016 energy consumption to rise to about 4.34 billion tons of standard coal equivalent, from 4.30 billion tons in 2015, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said in a summary of its annual objectives posted on its website Friday.

    Official data released in late February showed 2015 consumption also rose by 0.9 percent. Coal equivalent measures the energy given off by different fuels in a standardized way regardless of type, such as coal, oil or natural gas.

    China’s energy consumption growth has slowed as a result of a downturn in high-energy consuming heavy industries like steel and a renewed focus on improving efficiency, and it aims to cap the total within 5 billion tons of coal equivalent by the end of 2020.

    In the Friday statement, the NEA promised to continue to promote non-fossil fuel energies like nuclear and renewables.

    It said it would also encourage high-energy consuming sectors to move away from the developed eastern coast and into poorer western and central regions.

    China aims to keep coal production at around 3.65 billion tons in 2016 and cut the share of coal in its total energy mix to less than 63 percent, it said. The share last year stood at 64 percent.

    Coal production fell 3.5 percent to 3.68 billion tons last year as a result of weak demand and a campaign to switch to cleaner forms of energy, which left the sector struggling with massive rates of overcapacity.(SD-Agencies)