Next five-year plan should restrict coal use

China's production and consumption of energy have continually increased during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), especially the latter, which has experienced an annual average growth rate of about 4.7 percent, almost three times the global average growth.

However, at the same time the efficiency of energy use has constantly been improved; by the end of last year the energy consumption per unit of GDP had declined by 12 percent since 2010.

And over the same period, China's energy structure has witnessed a series of benign changes, as in June nuclear power generated more than 22 gigawatts of electricity, almost doubled that of 2010, and wind capacity reached 104 Gw, nearly one-third of the world's total installed capacity of wind power. China also produced the world's biggest increases in the installed capacity of solar power (over 35 Gw) and hydroelectricity (300 Gw and counting).