The battle to decrease energy use in China continues and one more step has been made in the right direction. China has now set a new target to decrease energy consumption across its industrial base. Yesterday, Miao Wei, the Minister for Industry and IT, said decreasing energy use and speeding up the conservation process is a crucial part of China's 12th Five Year Plan.

Miao Wei said: "We have set a target of decreasing energy consumption in China's industrial base by 21% during the 12th Five Year Plan, this will lower energy consumption as a whole in China by 16 percent."

The Ministry will focus first on the most energy-guzzling industries, and hopes to decrease energy consumption at every step of the entire production process. Research and development is no exception either although innovation and new products are always welcomed, the Minister stressed it will not come at the expense of environmental damage.

As part of the new efforts, there will be an initial push to encourage the production of green cars and appliances.