Application of energy-efficient building materials is expected to save 230,000 tons of standard coal and cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 575,000 tons this year in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, according to the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department of Ningxia.

Statistics show that the construction industry contributes 40 percent of Chinese carbon emission.

By the end of last year, Ningxia had built 52.99 million square meters of energy-efficient buildings, nearly 39 percent of the region's existing 137.77 million-square-meter residential buildings.

The region plans to carry on energy-efficient standards in 96 percent of the newly built buildings in urban areas and transform the existing 1.78 million-square-meter energy-consuming residential buildings by the end of this year.