国内英语新闻:Chinese vice premier calls for efforts to close old power plants

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China's local governments should step up efforts to close 10 million kilowatts of outdated coal-fueled power station capacity this year, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Friday.

This year is crucial to completing the country's energy saving and emission reduction goals as set out in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (from 2006 to 2010), Li said in a letter to a national work conference held in Beijing discussing the elimination of backward production capacity.

Official figures show China's unit gross domestic product (GDP) energy consumption fell 14.38 percent during the first four years of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan. But efficiency has to improve if the nation is to meet the 20 percent target set for the five-year period.

"This move is conducive to optimizing the country's power structure, enhancing energy saving and reducing pollution," Li said.