China and the European Commission of European Union jointly unveiled a 42.9-million-euro energy and environment program was introduced in Beijing Wednesday to improve China's energy efficiency.

The five-year EU-China Energy and Environment Program is jointly launched by the Chinese State Development and Reform Commission and the Delegation of the European Commission of European Union, involving projects on energy saving, development of renewable energy and natural gas.

China ranks the second in energy consumption in the world, and its energy efficiency stands at around 33 percent, 10 percentage points lower than the developed countries, said Zhao Jiarong, director of the department of environment resources conservation under the Chinese commission.

In 2003, energy consumption in China reached 1.68 billion tons of standard coal, 11 percent of the total consumption of the world, among which coal took up 67.2 percent, crude oil 22.7 percent, natural gas 2.8 percent and renewable energy 7.3 percent.

 Zhao said the introduction of the program is expected to draw energy-saving experience from members of European Commission and promote the sustainable development in China.

The European Commission donates 20 million euros to the project, and the rest of its cost comes from China.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2004)