Energy Task Force Leaves the Capital(1)

On the morning of June 21, Hebei province's Development and Reform Commission (DRC) welcomed its central government counterparts along with representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the State Environmental Protection Administration, and other agencies that make up the State Council's energy conservation assessment task force. At the same time, neighboring Shandong province hurried the preparation of materials in advance of its own visit on the 25th.

During the two congressional meetings this year the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that it would no longer set targets for energy consumption. As a result, the State Council then arranged for the first national energy conservation assessment.

One official from a department involved in the assessment revealed to the EO that although this year the State Council has said that it will abandon consumption reduction targets, in private it has expressed that it will be even stricter with local government on energy consumption issues. "The premier and vice-premier stress this project at almost every meeting, and this major inspection came after a push on the project," the source said.

On June 20, a representative from the NDRC, the task force's leading body, told the EO that this assessment "is primarily for figuring out where local governments are [on the issue], ensuring that policy is being worked on."

According to the source, the NDRC intends to adjust the current tiered energy pricing policies, and they have become the focus of this round of assessments.

Eight ministries depart the capital

The eight teams left for 16 destinations including Henan, Hebei, Gansu, Ningxi, Jiangxi, Shandong, Liaoning, Jilin, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, and Fujian.

By June 21, three provinces had already received the State Council's representatives.

In a notice sent at the end of May, the Council said that this round will focus on high-energy-consuming, high-polluting industries-- in this case, iron and steel, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, cement, electric power, and ferroalloys, along with other similar regional industries.

The work will be split up into three phases. The first phase involved self-inspection and reporting by local institutions, which lasted from May until mid-June. The second phase, which involves the dispatching of task forces by the State Council, was targeted for completion by the end of June. The third phase involves the summary of the assessment.

"They arrived just this morning, and are already being welcomed," said director Wang of Hebei's DRC. "Yesterday we held a working conference, and the related reports and materials were all ready." With iron, metallurgy, petrochemical, and other heavy industries serving as the industrial backbone of the province, Hebei is one of the first stops during every such assessment.