China used 3.35 percent less in energy consumption to produce a unit of gross domestic product year on year in the first half of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement Sunday.

The drop compared with a 2.88-percent decline in the first half of last year.

China launched a nationwide campaign to improve energy efficiency and cut greenhouse emissions in 2006. It would cut energy consumption for every 10,000 yuan (US$1,470) of GDP by 20 percent and pollutant emissions by 10 percent by next year from the 2005 levels.

Analysts said slower growth in industrial output, a result of a slowing economy, helped lower the energy intensity. Energy consumption of the industrial sector accounts for more than 70 percent of the country's total.

China's economic growth has slowed amid the global downturn, but it expanded 7.9 percent in the second quarter after sinking to 6.1 percent in the first quarter.

The drop in energy intensity was attributed to an improved industrial structure, the NDRC said. It said about a third of energy conserved in the first half was a result of a change in industrial structure.

The proportion of the tertiary industry in GDP was up 0.5 percentage points while that of secondary industry dipped 0.8 percentage points.

A continued investment in energy conservation and environmental protection, despite a fall in fiscal revenue, also played a role.

China has allocated 22.4 billion yuan from the central budget for exclusive use in energy conservation and environmental protection since the end of last year.

The government also continued to make efforts to curb energy-intensive sectors. It closed small coal-fuelled power plants with a total generating capacity of 54.07 million kilowatts from 2006 to the end of June.

The rise in output of energy-intensive industries fell 10.3 percentage points from a year ago, the NDRC said. Energy intensity in large industries fell, with the steel industry down 8.43 percent, the coal industry 3.83 percent, nonferrous metals 19.59 percent and power production 9.51 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2009)