Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted in order to promote energy conservation by all sectors of the society, increase energy efficiency, protect and improve the environment and promote comprehensive balanced and sustainable economic and social development.

Article 2 For the purposes of this Law, the resources of energy include coal, crude oil, natural gas, biomass energy, electric power, heating power, and other resources from which useful energy can be derived directly or through processing or conversion.

Article 3 For the purposes of this Law, energy conservation means, through tightened control over the use of energy and by adopting measures which are technologically feasible, economically rational and acceptable by the environment and community, reduction of the volume of energy consumed, the loss of energy and the discharge of pollutants and prevention of waste of energy, at each stage from production through to consumption of energy, in order to use energy efficiently and rationally.

Article 4 Conservation of resources is a fundamental State policy. The State implements an energy development strategy under which energy is conserved and exploited simultaneously while the first place is given to conservation.

Article 5 The State Council and the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall incorporate energy conservation in their plans for national economic and social development and their annual plans, and organize the drawing up and implementation of long- and medium-term special programs for energy conservation and annual plans for the same.

The State Council and the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall respectively report their work concerning energy conservation to the National People’s Congress or its Standing Committee, and to the local people’s congresses at the corresponding level or their standing committees.

Article 6 The State applies a system of responsibility for achieving the goals set for energy conservation and a system for assessing energy conservation, and shall include in the assessment of the local people’s governments and the leading persons their achievements in energy conservation.

The people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall report to the State Council on the performance of their responsibilities in respect of the goals for energy conservation.

Article 7 The State applies such industrial policies as facilitate energy conservation and environment protection, to restrict the development of the industries which consume excessive quantities of energy or discharges excessive quantities of pollutants and to promote the development of energy-conserving and environment-friendly industries.

The State Council and the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall enhance work for energy conservation, rationally readjust the industrial structure, enterprise structure, product mix and the pattern of energy consumption, urge the enterprises to reduce their energy consumption per unit output value and per unit product, eliminate outdated production facilities, improve the exploitation, processing, conversion, transmission, storage and supply of energy, and increase energy efficiency.

The State encourages and supports the development and utilization of new and renewable resources of energy.

Article 8 The State encourages and supports research of and development of the sciences and technologies for energy conservation and their demonstration and popularization, and promotes innovation and advances in technologies for energy conservation.

The State shall disseminate knowledge about energy conservation and educate people in this respect, include such knowledge in the system of national education and training, spread the scientific knowledge about energy conservation and enhance the awareness of the importance of energy conservation among all the people, and advocate an economical pattern of consumption.

Article 9 All units and individuals shall, in accordance with law, fulfill their obligation to conserve energy and have the right to report against any waste of energy.

The media shall propagate the laws, regulations and policies on energy conservation and bring into play the role of public opinion for supervision.

Article 10 The department in charge of energy conservation under the State Council shall be responsible for supervision and administration in respect of energy conservation nationwide. The relevant departments under the State Council shall, within the limits of their respective duties, be responsible for supervising and administering the work in energy conservation, and shall be subject to direction by the department in charge of energy conservation under the State Council.

The departments in charge of energy conservation under the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for supervising and administering the work in energy conservation within their respective administrative areas. The relevant departments under the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, within the limits of their respective duties, be responsible for supervising and administering the work in energy conservation, and shall be subject to direction by the departments in charge of energy conservation at the same level.