China's per unit GDP energy consumption fell 1.23 percent in 2006, missing the projected target, official figures released Wednesday show.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said energy consumption per 10,000 yuan (US$1,292) of gross domestic product amounted to 1.21 tons of coal equivalent in the year. This is the first time the NBS released figures on China's energy consumption per unit GDP.

The Chinese government set a goal of reducing energy consumption per unit GDP by 20 percent in the five-year period from 2006 to 2010. The goal for 2006 was four percent.

This is also the first time for China to see an annual decline in its energy consumption per unit GDP since 2003, despite a 0.8 percent rise in the index in the first half of last year.

According to preliminary estimates by the NBS, China consumed a total of 2.46 billion tons of coal equivalent in 2006, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier.

China saw an increase in its total energy consumption in 2006. The consumption included 2.37 billion tons of coal, up 9.6 percent year on year; 320 million tons of crude oil, up 7.1 percent; 55.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, up 19.9 percent; 416.7 billion kilowatt-hours of hydropower, up 5 percent; and 54.3 billion kilowatt-hours of nuclear power, up 2.4 percent.

In 2006 China's consumption of steel products rose 17.2 percent to 450 million tons; but its consumption of copper fell 4 percent to 3.72 million tons. Its consumption of other materials included aluminium, up 32.1 percent to 8.65 million tons; ethylene, up 23.9 percent to 9.39 million tons; and cement, up 14.5 percent to 1.2 billion tons.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2007)