State Council calls for restraints on power plant construction

China's State Council instructed Wednesday all government departments to overhaul power plant construction projects and immediately halt those without official approval.

All power plant construction projects must be re-appraised in line with the national industry development policy and the approved distribution arrangement, according to the decision made at Wednesday's State Council meeting.

The meeting, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, was convened to work on measures to curb rampant power plant construction across the country, which has emerged since the country began suffering from serious power shortages.

The meeting analyzed the current situation of power supply and demand. It stressed that the reliable power supply is a key factor to guarantee the country's sustainable economic and social development.

Despite the country's power shortage and increased demand, the current power plant construction projects have exceeded the potential power demand and will cause serious overplus in the future, said the meeting.

All unqualified power plant projects must be canceled and those illegal constructions should be rectified in accordance with regulations, the meeting said.

In order to guarantee the stable power supply, the meeting said China should strengthen power plant construction while curbing the over-headed power demand and encourage clean power supply.

The development of power industry should be coordinated with the country's overall economic and social development. The construction of power plants should be in line with the market rule and China's special condition, said the meeting.

The State Council urged an increase of the country's power utilization efficiency by optimizing the national power grid and upgrading the manufacturing level of power equipment.

The meeting also vowed to deepen the reform on the country's power industry and perfect the emergency plan to guarantee the power supply.