"The country is bent on reducing its reliance on dwindling fossil fuels and want to pursue sustainable energy development," said Shi Dinghuan, a director from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Coal is currently the primary source of power in China.

By 2005, renewable energy will account for 0.7 percent of the total annual energy used in China, and 2 percent by 2015, said Shi.

He was due to attend an international symposium on Sino-Italian environmental protection cooperation in Beijing today.

The country's wind power capacity is expected to reach 1.5 million kilowatts by the end of 2005, with the use of other renewable energy resources, such as solar and hydropower, projected to reach or exceed the global average, Shi said.

To achieve all of this, the state has mapped out a detailed scheme for research and development of renewable energy during the 10th Five-Year Plan period, Shi said.

The country has also carried out a series of favorable policies including the reduction of import tariffs, value-added tax and enterprise income tax to encourage the development of clean energy.

Furthermore, the country will beef up cooperation with foreign countries in such aspects as technology and equipment to help develop renewable energy, Shi said.

Zhu Junsheng, chairman of the China Association of Renewable Energy Industry, said China has already made some achievements in the sector in the past few years.

The combined generating capacity of small hydropower plants in China had reached 17 million kilowatts by the end of 2000.

The capacity of the country's geothermal power plants stood at 35,000 kilowatts, while that of wind power was 346,000 kilowatts.

"Energy development is an important part of the national plan," said Wang Jian, deputy secretary-general of the State Development Planning Commission.

(China Daily 07/09/2001)