Beijing has set a new target to reduce energy and water consumption by five percent per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), city Mayor Wang Qishan said Friday.

The municipal government will make more efforts to reduce energy consumption and phase out energy intensive industries that are highly polluting, including chemical plants and cement factories, Wang said in a government work report to the municipal people's congress.

The city will cut the production of factories under the Shougang Steel Group in the Shijingshan district of west Beijing, and relocate a coking plant in a southeastern suburb and two chemical factories, he said.

Meanwhile, the municipal government will close 80 mines and closely monitor the energy consumption of city factories, according to the report.

New residential buildings are required to have energy consumption levels 65 percent below the average for existing buildings, and older buildings will be renovated with resource-saving technologies.

Wang instructed government organizations to lead by example in saving electricity and water and using recyclable paper.

The capital's energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of gross domestic product (GDP) was 0.795 tons of coal equivalent in 2006, down by 6.9 percent from 2005. And last year's water consumption was down by 11.2 percent year on year, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2007)