China expects slower, better energy use

China's energy use has entered medium-low growth as the economy heads toward a more sustainable model, the country's energy planner said Thursday.[Special coverage]

China's primary energy consumption is expected to expand by an average 3.4 percent annually for the 2015-2020 period, Nur Bekri, head of National Energy Administration (NEA), predicted.

The growth will further drop to 2.3 percent for the 2015-2030 period, he said in an interview published on the NEA website.

Since 2000, China's energy use has grown at a pace of 7.9 percent annually, but as China embraces slower growth but at a higher quality, energy use will also cool down, Nur said.

One of the NEA's major tasks this year is to formulate a strategic energy plan that will take the country to 2030.

China's State Council unveiled an Energy Development Strategy Action Plan (2014-2020) last year that promises to cap annual primary energy consumption at 4.8 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent until 2020.

That means the annual growth of primary energy consumption must be limited within 3.5 percent for the next six years.

In addition to controlling the volume of energy use, the NEA is also stepping up efforts to reduce coal consumption and boost the share of non-fossil fuels.

Currently, China's coal consumption accounts for about 66 percent of the primary energy use, 35 percentage points higher than the world average.

China aims to bring the share of non-fossil energy to 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030.

According to the annual government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang Thursday, the Chinese government plans to reduce the energy intensity, or units of energy per unit of GDP, by 3.1 percent in 2015.