China has stopped construction of power stations with a total capacity of 34 million kilowatts to avoid possible over supply of power, said an official on Monday.

The banks should stop giving loans to those programs and relevant departments should not ratify the programs, said the official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The generating equipment manufacturers can not produce enough equipments to meet the demands of power stations under construction. The approved programs have been affected, said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.

When the peak period of power station construction is over, the equipment manufacturers may see big ups and downs if no timely measures are taken, said the official.

China's total power installed capacity has reached 531 million kilowatts, and more than 70 million kilowatts of newly installed capacity is expected to be put into production this year.

In the second half of the year, China's power supply and demand is expected to be balanced.

The power station construction plan for 2008 and subsequent years would be made according to the market demand, said the NDRC official.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2006)