A disturbing report that China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by only 2.2 percent last year has so far slipped below the radar of most domestic press.

With the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, starting its annual session tomorrow in Beijing, we have ample reasons to expect that lawmakers will stand firm on the country's goal of cutting energy intensity by 20 percent between 2006 and 2010.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP was down 1.79 percent year in 2006, 4.04 percent in 2007 and 4.59 percent in 2008.