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China to close dirtiest firms

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-07 06:59

China will close its dirtiest steel mills as it steps up efforts to rein in surging energy use and clean up environmental damage caused by its economic boom, Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday.

Communist leaders have promised repeatedly to clean up China's badly polluted environment, though they warn they are constrained by a need to promote economic growth and lack of technology.

The government also wants urgently to reduce reliance on imported oil, which it sees as a strategic weakness. China consumes several times as much energy per unit of economic output as the United States, Japan or other major economies.

Wen acknowledged on Sunday that China failed to meet its conservation targets last year.

(China Daily 03/07/2007 page5)