China Vows Faster Push to Conserve Energy BRIEFING: BEIJING

Mar 19, 03:40 PM

Current Headlines: China will accelerate plans to revamp the natural resources tax mechanism to encourage conservation and reduce waste, its top economic planner said Sunday. "The natural resources tax reform is on our agenda and the pace will be hastened within the next five years," Ma Kai, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a forum in Beijing. An increase in natural resource tax will take place in tandem with the reform of the pricing system as it will affect industries and society, Ma said. Last year, China used 15 percent of global energy consumption to achieve about 5.5 percent of worldwide gross domestic product, he said.

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